That's what I tried, obviously not well, to get to the bottom of Friday. I know Apple has a special relationship with carriers. Basically it's "here is the phone, you will pay this much and we will never take it back. Period." (See Sprint) I've read that other manufacturers, without the Apple or Samsung clout, have different relationships with the carriers. To wit, what is the BBRY relationship with the US carriers. Are those phones shipped considered sold, or is the relationship different. Given that BBRY was not in a position of power, one should wonder.
An example is the Facebook phone from HTC that AT&T was basically giving away for .99. Did AT&T still have to pay full price for the phone or did HTC eat that?