IMO this isn't really about consumers making smart choices. It's about incumbent telecoms operators like France Telecom making sure they keep a balance of power

IMO this isn't really about consumers making smart choices. It's about incumbent telecoms operators like France Telecom making sure they keep a balance of power between suppliers. They're making sure that as their customers come up to renew their contracts and upgrade their phone they're leaving the store with an Android device. Despite the strength of the iPhone brand, there's still a significant chunk of the market that really "doesn't care" and just wants a phone that works. Sure they'd be happy to have a camera and all the rest of what a smart phone offers but they're cautious about increasing their monthly bill with data charges and, first and foremost, just want a phone. You can sell this type of consumer an Android phone quite easily, even if they came into your store asking for an iPhone. Meanwhile Apple made the "mistake" of pushing their vision of user experience all the way through consumer. To do this they dictated terms to telcos on how they distribute iPhones, and broke long established conventions built up with Nokia, Motorola, Sony Erikson and others about the distribution process, and questioned the role of the telco in that process. That left telcos scared of a future where Apple is their dominant supplier. So they fixed it. IMO that's where these numbers are coming from.