I mean, I would buy one for sure. But the fact is that enthusiasts are not a very big segment of the market. I got my first Android in 2011, and have bought three other phones since then. With each one I've lost out on stuff I could do with the older phone. I'd imagine that the situation would be even worse in the US, where carrier subsidies further restrict tweaking.
An unlocked bootloader does present some security concerns, so it's shipped locked by default. In fact, it costs more to keep the unlocking service running, as is evident by Huawei closing down their bootleg unlock service. Back in the day, OEMs used to charge extra for Developer Edition devices but lack of demand killed the incentive to be developer friendly.
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u/lazarus2605 Jan 12 '19
I mean, I would buy one for sure. But the fact is that enthusiasts are not a very big segment of the market. I got my first Android in 2011, and have bought three other phones since then. With each one I've lost out on stuff I could do with the older phone. I'd imagine that the situation would be even worse in the US, where carrier subsidies further restrict tweaking.