"Crack" the NA market???

Several years ago they cracked and owned it.

Been sleeping?

I'm not exactly clear how the "short-sightedness" of Nokia's competition allowed them to beat Nokia like a drum.

Plus, let me disabuse people of one notion. It is not FCC or government regulation that is the problem, it's the lack of that regulation. Cell carriers were allowed to build whatever networks they wanted (and CDMA and GSM are just two of many that have existed). Regulatory standardization would have solved many interoperability problems but it didn't happen.

I'm pretty certain that's what people have been repeatedly pointing out.

That may be. But my point was that Alienware computers (as well as a host of other American computers) are available in brick and mortar stores in the capital of the UK and N900 phones are not available in brick and mortar stores in the capital of the US.

Clearly Nokia needs to get Best Buy to carry them. I know Fry's Electronics does. The problem remains of them being unsubsidized, thus appearing more expensive than phones sold under contract, as well as GSM phones forcing your hand with respect to who you get your service from.

Fix Or Repai Daily (FORD) too!

Sorry for the long response but background is necessary. My first cell phone was the original motorola flip phone (analog) and it was horrid to use. In my humble opinion, Motorola has yet to make a decent phone. My first digital phone was a Nokia, which I got when ATT launched the digital one rate plan, and it was a real pleasure to use. I went through two of them before being forced to get a new phone when TDMA was phased out. I was determined to find a new Nokia but the options at that time were pathetic so I opted for cheap Motorola quad band GSM so it would work in the US and Europe. I fully planned on replacing it quickly with a Nokia that I would buy in Europe if I could not find one here in the states. I saw several phones announced that looked good but they were delayed (Nokia's track record for hitting schedules is pathetic) and when they finally arrived lacked the universal coverage I needed; they had European versions and occasionally US versions, but never both in one handset. I finally decided to get a Blackberry, which had the quad band gsm coverage I needed. About the same time my wife got the Iphone. I thought I needed hard keys but soon realized how crippled the blackberry was. It worked well for many things but the web browsing was really poor. I watched my wife with her Iphone and longed for a real browser, but, unlike the majority in the US, I am tired of contracts with cell phone companies. I tried to find an unlocked iphone and found one in Asia but the cost was absurdly high.

About this time the N900 was surfacing and looked really good. On paper is seemed to be the holy grail that I had been looking for, for years. A date was announced for release and true to form they missed it. I watched and waited and finally it seemed to be real but then it was sold out and could not be found. This was one of the worst product launches ever and Nokia has set that bar pretty low. I finally placed a pre-order and then Nokia dropped the price. I have been in sales for 25 years and cannot understand why they dropped the price when they were sold out! Nokia marketing in the US is pathetic. I finally received my N900 on Christmas eve and love it, in spite of all the above. But this is no Iphone killer. People like my wife who are not geeks would really struggle with the N900.

Nokia makes great hardware and no one does RF better. The voice quality on the N900 is excellent. The feature set of what could be is everything I want, so as long as I am patient it will get there; but this is very much a work in progress. Nokia has refused to play the games required by the US carriers and while I applaud that the majority of consumers here want a cheap phone, even if they end up paying more in the end. Apple, RIM, Google, Verizon, ATT, etc, have been pushing their solutions hard with advertising but Nokia has been absent in the US. I have no delusions about the US market size and realize that Nokia is still number one in the world, but if Nokia wants to be taken seriously they cannot allow the competition to keep the momentum going unchallenged. As mentioned earlier, it is also hard to see and touch a Nokia phone before buying it and that is a real problem.

Bottom line, and to answer the original question, the lack of coverage here in the US is due to Nokia's really poor marketing in the US over many, many years. I really like Nokia products but they have made getting one really, really difficult. The N900 is a great device but until the features are working better it will never challenge the Iphone. When Apple launches a new Iphone, you don't have to search to find one, they are on the shelf and ready to go. I hope that Nokia can get their act together here in the US but that will only happen if they start paying attention to what is needed and start promoting their excellent products in ways that the average buyer will see.

Aaaand the conversation comes to a halt. Thanks, Fargus. You're THAT guy in a conversation, today.

Edit: CRIPES! Spoke too soon! o.O

Well, promoting AND providing support.

At least they warn you up front with tbadge: Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious!