[Symbiote]

As you are probably aware, popular phones like the iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S24 (#1 and #2 in the USA) are in that range, costing $700 and $1300 for the 'basic' models.

[nothercastle]

That’s because subsidized plans don’t encourage shopping for the lowest price. Consumers just see free phone and optimize to buy the most expensive free phone available.

[gruez]

I find it hard to believe that consumers are that dumb that they can't do an addition and multiplication to find the actual TCO.

[throwaway48476]

Somehow the rest of the world gets by with much cheaper phones.

[givinguflac]

I love this take-

Sure, let’s just ignore the disastrous adware, bloatware etc that also “subsidize” these cheaper phones, to say nothing of the actual capabilities or user experience of said devices.

[ahartmetz]

No such crap on Motorola phones. Posting from a five years old Moto One Vision. It's... a smartphone. It has a decent CPU, screen, camera, storage, NFC, etc. I couldn't say what's missing.

The only thing I'd get excited about in a new phone is a faster CPU.

[refurb]

Much of the world “gets by” on outdoor toilets, but we put value on indoor plumbing don’t we?

[jazzyjackson]

Popular or not they are luxury goods, and a modern iphone can be had for a couple hundred bucks used (SE 2nd gen)