And in some countries, including the very lucrative and unit-crazy USA, they've been exclusive to a single carrier.

In the majority of countries there's no longer an exclusivity deal, but carriers are still selling locked subsidized handsets. The seemingly low entry price is attractive and Apple definitely need to keep this happening to be able to compete with everyone else in the traditional sales model.

Apple meanwhile has started selling them unlocked on their own as well. Huge margins, but they couldn't be number four in unit sales without subsidies. They can afford to drop the price significantly, but from a business perspective, I think they're doing what they need to be doing.

I just picked up my first iPhone the other day in fact - no subsidy, fully unlocked. It feels strange walking around with such an expensive gadget let me tell you. While I mentioned many times that it simply wasn't worth that amount of money to me, a couple of situations recently transpired where it made some sense for me to jump in now, so I did.

With the Verizon rumors getting stronger I see a lot more phones about to fly off Apple's shelves. And even more when the second Verizon model comes out supporting LTE. I doubt it will be supported in the first version. It will be interesting to see what happens to Verizon's network if the iPhone takes off there.