@Zill
Reguardless of what it costs to make the phones value is always much greater. Thats how they calculate potential capital lose. The carriers get the phones from the manufacture. It may only cost 120 to 180 to make but the phones value is what we the customer is charged. Its not a "shitty" move. Its a very smart move on their part if they want to keep in business. Im 100% sure they are tired of losing phones because of fraud. Now there is a recourse for the carriers. They have a chance now to recoup their loses and put the ppl in jail that caused the fraud. As roughly 25-30% of most new activations are either fraud or the customer just doesnt pay their bill and are cancelled. The phones are expensive and the carriers have been getting boned for years because of ppls dishonesty.
I think you're missing the point.
When you lease a car, It does not belong to you. You have to return it when the lease is up. It was never your property.
When you get a phone subsidized through a carrier. You agree to purchase the phone 100%. If you are negligent in your payments, or try to get out of the contract early, they bill you for the full price of the phone. You keep the phone no matter what.