[mcphage]

The author mentions that—and that the fact that carrier contracts are dying means that US consumers will become more price conscious. However, Apple's high margins mean that iPhones are more expensive because Apple wants them to be (and people will pay it). I don't expect iPhone prices to ever be as low as Android prices, but if Apple needs to, they can drop their prices and still make money on their phones. They just don't want to (because they like making money), and it's yet not clear that they have to.