UIEvolution Blog.

I found this interesting article today on ZDNET.  As Google found out, the number one factor standing in the way of anyone dominating the direct to consumer phone play is carrier subsidies on the devices.  Besides the phones obvious feature flaws, one of the biggest reasons the Nexus One never took off was that it was lacking the  carriers subsidy that would have reduced its retail price by $200 or more.

I believe that as hardware becomes less expensive and smartphone operating systems continue to advance there is a real market opportunity to deliver devices using the direct consumer model pioneered by Dell with PC’s.  Of course the issues with carriers’ subsidies will need to be worked out to be successful

One important caveat though, is that the devices still need to be good because users care more about that then direct vs indirect.