Don't give me the whole "$650 smartphone for $200" line. That's totally false. The average wholesale cost for a smartphone to a carrier is more around $300. Apple being the exception. Apple really is charging carriers $600 wholesale for their phone, which is why a lot of carriers don't sell it. It's also why Apple is worth half a trillion dollars-from ripping off everyone. So when a carrier sells you an Android for $200, they are only losing about $100 right off the bat. Sometimes they are breaking even right off the bat too and making a profit as soon as you walk out the door. If you pay $600 retail for your smartphone, the carrier has made about $300 profit from your right off the bat. These companies know how to market products, even if it means lying about how much they claim to have paid for it.

The bottom line is VZ is doing what they are doing because they can. It's what happens when you don't have a lot of competition in the market. Big companies begin to throw their weight around.