Is the iPhone too cheap?

Here you thought carrier subsidies on phone handsets were just a noxious way to lock the consumer into a pricey service contract.

A well-established research group is now arguing that the subsidies that come with such deals -- in particular the AT&T/Apple bargain that has the iPhone selling for $99 -- is bad for the industry.

The report argues that carriers are sacrificing profit margins in favor of long-term benefits that may never materialize, essentially assuming too much of the risk that would otherwise fall on hardware manufacturers.

Which sounds suspiciously like -- but in reverse -- a recent argument made by other researchers.