I think at this point Apple is holding carriers hostage in most parts of the world, and they are demanding they buy a certain amount of iPhones from them (at th

I think at this point Apple is holding carriers hostage in most parts of the world, and they are demanding they buy a certain amount of iPhones from them (at the full retail price) before the launch, otherwise they don't give them the iPhone. So at least for a few years, Apple could just keep increasing profits, by demanding the carriers buy 30% (or whatever) more units each time, and ride that business model for a long time, until the iPhone is not a popular item anymore. If the other manufacturers want to make some decent profit, besides making great products, obviously, they also need to be more forceful towards carriers, and also demand full retail price for their phones, rather than a heavily discounted price for "volume" or whatever reasoning carriers have when dealing with the other manufacturers. Those $600-$700 Android smartphones you see in store at carriers, they pay only $400-$450 for them. Manufacturers need to stop this practice if they want higher profits.