As a consumer in the US, how do I usually get a mobile phone? I go to my carrier store just up the street, sign up for a contract (or extend an existing one) and get a free or cheap phone on the side (that's the ". . . fries with that?" part).

If I want to get a Nokia phone, I have to specifically seek it out. By and large, you wont find them on the shelves at the carrier stores (and certainly not any of the good ones) and you wont find them at retailers. If I'm buying Nokia, I have to already be interested in their product , be willing to handle the "higher" cost and go out of my way to get it. This all increases the expectation of quality and service, when Nokia doesn't deliver on these (something they seem utterly incapable of doing in the US) you lose that customer and you don't get them back.

Again, Nokia's position in the US is completely deserved.