What I'm curious is whether it's $150 after subsidies or before subsidies. If it's the latter, then this phone could easily be offered as a $0 phone on a two or three year contract.
I got all my smart phones, in a country where they run $800 each, for free with one year contract. And paid less for data. And sms was always included in the voice plan.
And i still complained about how expensive it was.
I bought a smartphone because it lets me check email when I'm sitting in lectures at university and I'm bored. I haven't really used my smartphone as a phone as much as its price would have you expect.
In theory I do this so I can change my plan and/or switch providers willy-nilly, but I never do because I don't want to lose a phone number that's not really "mine" to begin with.
I guess, that's just a thing that I won't understand because I'm not American.