Definitely agree with you wrt phone choice. I'm in the market for a new GSM phone now, and the offerings by the major US GSM carriers (Cingular, T-Mobile) pale when compared to what you can buy direct from the manufacturers. Also, I didn't realize some of the phones came with features disabled. (If this is noted on the carriers' web sites, I haven't seen it.)

The price points are important, perhaps more so in the US than Asia. There seems to be a mentality in the US that it's better to get a free phone, even if you wind up overspending on the service. Or perhaps buying something like a Cingular "Go Phone" is attractive because the phones are cheap (under US $20 in some cases) and you pay with prepaid cards.