I actually dont care either way. I view my phone as a tool, like a carpenter views a hammer. I need it to do my job. I dont care if what I have is popular or not popular. Only I can judge the best tool for me. Makes no difference in my life if Nokia is a big, dominate player in the US market or not, as long as I can get a device if I want it. I dont mind paying extra if its the right device, but of course if the device I really want is subsidized by my carrier, then I will take that route. Im OK either way. I dont need for a million other people to have the same device in my their pocket to make me feel like I made the right decision.
The US market is what the US market is.... different. It doesnt make it bad. We have competition, and different technologoes, so what. I prefer LESS government intervention and regulation. I dont want the government choosing a technology platform. Other parts of the world may have better coverage, but there are reasons for this.
Most countries in Europe are small. Can you imagine if every state had their own set of cell companies. ATT-Georgia would only have one state to concentrate on to provide maximum coverage. I dont think carriers should have to provide coverage where they can not get an ROI. In the end, we would all end up paying for that in higher rates. In the US, we have a law that the monopoly landline phone carriers must provide a customer service no matter how rural or unprofitable the customer may be. We all pay for that, in your landline bill there is a "universal access fee" or something like that.
Many third world countries didnt have the landline infrastructure that we have in the US, so it was much cheaper to erect wireless towers when the technology was available than to string cable throughout an entire country. There are many reasons why our market is different.
Good companies recognize different markets and develop/market different products to suit the local requirements. GM doesnt market the Escalade in Europe because the streets are narrow and gas is twice what it is in the US. (with our gas north of 4 bucks, this is not the best example anymore, but you get the idea).
I dont see our subsidized handset market going away. Consumers are not technically savvy and actually like one stop shopping. The sweet spot in the market for electronics is $200, so the carriers can sell a handset in this range, and lock a customer into a guaranteed revenue stream, its a win-win situation. The bottom line is, if Nokia wants to gain market share in the US, especially in the high end market, they need to get in bed with the carriers. There really is NO other way that I see. They are not going to make a living selling $500 S60 devices next to $200 iphones.
OK, enough ranting about nothing for a Sunday afternoon.