There were subsidized smartphones well before The iPhone did it.  I had a T-Mobile Dash that ran Windows Phone 5 in 2006 and it only cost $150 or so with 2 year contract.  Compared to the iPhone it was a joke--clunky interface stuck in the early 2000&#x27;s, web browser that was barely a step up from a dumb phone, etc.  The iPhone was just a better phone in all aspects.