The days of carriers scoring device exclusivity for major smartphones may be numbered. The most prominent example of how powerful this weapon can be is Apple's (AAPL 0.64%) iPhone, which did wonders for AT&T (T 1.17%) after Ma Bell locked down the device for years. Nokia (NOK -0.27%) remains very willing to create exclusive devices for carriers, because the Finnish company can earn goodwill that way. 

In the following video, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and Eric Bleeker, CFA, discuss how exclusivity is changing in today's smartphone market.