And This Is Precisely What Is Helping Android Sales!
There is NO CARRIER SUBSIDY. Frack, I'm just tired of this. When you buy a Iphone on contract you have to take the top level plans which include the financing ... Considering you're locked in a contract for this "benefit" and they also lock your phone until you paid, you'd be better off financing the phone yourself.
Just two years ago, only Apple and Samsung were making profits. But this year, a host of additional companies (i.e. LG, HTC, Motorola, Asus, Acer, Huwaei, Kyocera, Xiaomi, Lenovo) are at or near profitability. Why? Mid-range Android phones.
You can get a Moto G, LG G3 Stylus, Huwaei Ascend, HTC Desire or Sony Xperia SP with 1-2 year old hardware specs but running the latest version of Android for 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost of an unlocked "flagship phone" and do it without a 2 year commitment. The phones are very affordable, but can still be sold at a decent margin because of the cheaper "slightly outdated" hardware, and the newer versions of Android (Android requires less processing power and battery life with each iteration, and with Lollipop switching from ART to Dalvik it will make average hardware perform much better) makes it a quality device. (Ironically, the first two 64 bit Android phones are mid-range phones ... the HTC Desire 820 and the Huwaei Honor 4x.)
So people who are not looking for the top notch design and engineering of an iPhone (or a Galaxy Note) can get a very capable smartphone for less than all but the very cheapest of Windows PCs (or as cheap as a 4th generation iPod Touch). And that is what most Android buyers will opt for. It is terrible news for Samsung, because they have not quite gotten the midrange thing down yet. They either make excellent devices like the Galaxy Note, very cheap but useable Android devices for prepaid phones and developing markets, or gimmicky junk. They are trying to enter that area with their Galaxy Alpha line, but they are a year behind everyone else, and they still cost a couple hundred more than people are willing to pay off contract.
Basically, that is going to transform the whole "iPhone versus a few premium Android phones and cheap junk" narrative. The Huwaei Honor 4x offers a 64 bit CPU, 5.5' 720p display, 2 GB of RAM, a battery that lasts 3 days on a single charge and hardware that is (to a degree) designed around Lollipop for $215! The LG G3 stylus - the only smartphone other than the Galaxy Note designed for a stylus pen - is only $100 more.
So with better hardware, a MUCH better OS, and also much better apps on the way (several developers are targeting Android because of too much competition in iOS) expect Android market share to remain constant or even increase. Apple coming out with bigger screens may well devastate Samsung, but it won't affect the other players. While Samsung's profits took a beating last quarter, the other Android manufacturers' profits and sales actually increased and this is why.