> Wouldn't they get a bigger sales by opening them up? At these prices, they aren't making any money on the phone - perhaps even subsidizing it. So they might

> Wouldn't they get a bigger sales by opening them up? At these prices, they aren't making any money on the phone - perhaps even subsidizing it. So they might get bigger sales, but they won't be making more money (or even losing more). Keep in mind that the old .com adage "We're losing on every sale, but we're making up for it in volume" is not the way to success. Also note that the models you linked to are vendor locked. This almost surely means vendor subsidized as well - if you find the unlocked version of the same phone, it will likely be $30-$50 more.