And yet, the OnePlus 3 sells a fraction of the amount that the Samsung Galaxy S7 sells.
It really seems like inexpensive high-end phones should sell like hotcakes, but in practice, it doesn't happen. It's arguably very possible that a $650 phone will sell better than a $450 phone even with the same components, because it'll get perceived as "high-end" in a way the inexpensive one wouldn't.
Probably because not many providers sell the phone, they'd rather rip you off with whatever overpriced contract they can. A few years ago many providers did have the N5 and it did do very well (anecdotally). I think if they could lock those deals down they'd do better, but I'm sure there's some conflicts of interest at play there.
It really seems like inexpensive high-end phones should sell like hotcakes, but in practice, it doesn't happen. It's arguably very possible that a $650 phone will sell better than a $450 phone even with the same components, because it'll get perceived as "high-end" in a way the inexpensive one wouldn't.