In the US, the N900 was $650 USD upon release during a time when subsidized pricing was still ongoing. To many, it was high, but having an unlocked phone at that period of time was short-term an investment but long-term in the consumer's advantage. But many didn't see it like that. I can admit I was one of those types.

With that said, a $650 USD phone, and I quote, "that won't be a flagship for even in that one company for a year..." was a bit tough to swallow. Especially given how Nokia kept denying that the USB port had issues and they ran out of replacements rather quickly and were offering people other phones instead - N95's mostly IIRC. And carriers were unwilling in some cases to activate it on their networks unless you were talking with a savvy salesperson - which was rare then.

The N900 in the US wasn't expensive. It just wasn't really meant to be sold here it seems. Lack of training, lack of support, lack of distribution. I cannot speak about elsewhere though.