Comments on: Apple: 250,000 iPhones bought to unlock

It's sort of a mushy number, but Apple said Monday that it thinks 250,000 of the 1.4 million iPhones sold so far were bought with the intention of unlocking them from AT&T's network.

[raulmot]

Unlocked Phone Revenue

First, they aren't really loosing revenue, because many of those 250,000 unlocked phones never had intention of signing up with AT&T. If they it couldn't be unlocked, I would guess there would have been about 245,000 less iPhones sold.

Second, they are still getting revenue on the the 250,000 iPhones that would not have otherwise have been sold.

Third, yes Apple will update the software and squash unlocked iPhones. But the hacking community will find ways around it again. And this time, most people will have learned their lesson and not upgrade until the hacking community gives the go ahead or has a workaround.

[mvpcarl]

Has anyone seen?

Has anyone seen the Will It Blend from Blendtech? I imagine there were a lot of people that bought these just to take them apart, or to BLEND THEM!

http://www.willitblend.com/videos.aspx?type=unsafe&video=iphone

[dotmike]

There's also that one Greenpeace smoked

Greenpeace "analyzed" one in order to get some publicity:

http://www.emsnow.com/npps/story.cfm?pg=story&id=29692

[dotmike]

You say it like it's a bad thing...

There's ample evidence to suggest the majority of unlocked
iPhones are not being used in the US.

Case in point, I have two in my household alone, unlocked... in
Australia.

In my wider circle of (mainly tech savvy) acquaintances, there are
a large number of iPhones represented, almost as many as
amongst similar groups in the US.

In finding out how to unlock, I've been communicating with
people all over the world, ranging from Malaysia to Croatia.
There has been no announcement of iPhone availability in any of
those markets.

If those people had not unlocked, Apple would have not received
any more revenue, and if those people had not purchased the
unit at all, Apple would have received less revenue and would
not be able to boast having sold over 1 million in Q4.

To assume that unlocking is hurting Apple is flat out wrong.

Besides this anecdotal evidence: Apple's own retail stores
indicate much higher sales rates in "border cities" such as
Washington State for Canada, and New York (as a border city to
Europe) with payment by international credit cards. They must
be aware of this.

Plus, there's a very large number of people who buy several at a
time and resell them through Ebay. For a while, Ebay even had
an iPhone graphic on its home page.

Considering that the average Ebay price is ~$500, and the online
Apple Store price $399, why would anyway buy from Ebay inside
the US.

Unlocked phones benefit Apple in the same way that an iPod
sale does. They don't receive additional network revenue, but a
$400 sale is a $400 sale.

[Tom Krazit]

Interesting

On the part about usage outside the U.S., at least. Do you have anything else to support that, any other sources of information about iPhone usage outside the U.S.? Like you, I've seen a lot of anecdotal stuff, but would be interested in learning more about that if you can point me in the right direction.

Also, where did you get the info on the border store sales? Not disputing it, just looking for something to support it.

Obviously, judging by Apple's quarterly results, they're not exactly hurting. But if they can't prevent unlocking, wouldn't it be harder for them to demand the types of revenue-sharing agreements they got from AT&T in the future, when talking to other carriers?

[imacpwr]

Unlocked iPhones in France.

Switzerland's "SonntagsZeitung" reported Sunday (Oct. 20) that
iPhones sold in France through Orange would have to comply with
consumer's rights laws of France by suppling in addition to the
"locked" Orange version an "unlocked" version which would allow
cell phone subscribers to use the cell phone provider of their
choice. This "Naked iPhone" comes at a price though as it's
expected to cost over $1,200.