[addicted]

Carrier subsidies were a huge thing in the US market. It was why lay people were able to buy Blackberries in mass before the iPhone in the US. It was also why Nokia had no standing in the US market at all, despite being the biggest seller outside, with phones that were pretty much unparalleled (until BB). They did not want to give carriers the control the carriers wanted (such as gimping features and stuff), which meant they were not subsidized by the carriers, which meant their phones didn't sell int he US.