[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note I717] E90 Commie:
It is very relevant to compare with other western countries. I don´t see any differences from a mobile perspective between US and Europe that motivates the badly working market here.

It is also worth to note that the European market operated in a similar fashion to the US one as of today back in the 90s when GSM was introduced.

Other products in this country has pretty normal pricing, there are simply no valid argument that can motivate the mobile markets peculiarities, locked devices, incompatible networks and the outrageous prices for service.

If other products (cars, electronics, shoes, clothes, groceries etc) had prices of the double or even more than Europe, then there would be a theoretical argument for the mobile market too.

But the reality is different and since I travel between different countries and use their services, I have a very clear picture of the difference between a good and bad mobile market.

The only companies that benefits from the US model is the carriers. There are absolutely no benefit for the consumers to pay $299 for a branded, locked down device and then $100 per month for 24 months when the same device can be bought outright for $600-680 and other countries offers it with much better contract terms for far less per month.

Don't tell me that the cost for manufacturing devices for the US market or even constructing and maintaining networks are more expensive here than Europe because that would be a severe distortion of facts.;)

The technology is global and the equipment is also global. USA is a western country, in many ways similar to European countries (I see Europe everywhere here in all aspects including the languages and different products) so cellular service should be something similar too.

Now I am planning to order the Note for a friend in Sweden for $50 per month, 24 months, unlimited talk, text and 10 GB of data. Device cost upfront: $0.

It is a campaign price but still very interesting to compare with AT&Ts pricing for a broadly similar service (albeit with less data).

Edit: Many products are cheaper here than in Europe. The big exception is.... cellular service. I don't see any other product on the US market that has such a huge price difference compared to other western markets.

In fact, I can't see a single product here in the US beside mobile related services and devices that are so insanely priced compared to the other markets. If everything was down to income levels etc, other products would also be expensive here, but they aren't.

Sweden is more expensive than the US in many aspects, mobile service is the big exception in that case. And kindly notice that you have a VAT of 25% there, which greatly affects pricing. If there are one country where there would be reasons to have expensive mobile service - that country would be Sweden or Denmark. That is if you study other prices and compares.

The only reason for the US mobile market situation is that it is not working properly and the market forces are put out of normal operation. It is also worth to note that the US carriers are operating on the edges on the laws here, for example when it comes to "tying" (which is illegal). What they are doing is exactly that but it is obvious that you can circumvent the legislation by introducing "technical circumstances" like incompatible networks.