> Europe also never had the culture of carrier subsidized phones, and so were never accustomed to paying more in monthly fees in exchange for low to no cost upgrades of hardware.
I live in the Netherlands and subsidized phones are the norm here, don't think other countries are that different.
My experience in NL was differentiated pricing based upon the phone you got - ie it was subsidized by financing. In the states it was a massive flat out discount that wasn't explicit financing.
I live in the Netherlands and subsidized phones are the norm here, don't think other countries are that different.