250,000 iPhones Sold to Unlockers?

[MacRumors]

During today's financial conference call, Apple revealed that they estimate that about 250,000 iPhones were purchased by individuals intending to unlock them.

No details on how Apple came to this conclusion. Apple, of course, would know exactly how many iPhones had been activated through AT&T.

Article Link

[aerospace]

Most likely total sold minus phones that have not been activated after 2 weeks of purchase or something to that effect.

[iDAG]

I had no idea that people hated at&t that much...

[bigandy]

Originally Posted by iDAG

I had no idea that people hated at&t that much...

it's not just hating att, because there are quite a few that have made it over here, and quite a few other non-us territories.

[walexx]

Hopefully this will make Apple sit up and take notice. People want the iPhone and they want it now. They dont want to be locked into a network and well, they should just release an unlocked version and be done with it.

The fact that there are 250k unlocked phones and there and forums around the world have these people posting their thoughts and experiences and confirming the networks that it will work on is great and free market research and field testing for Apple.

They think they know whats best for people but 17% of all iPhone sales tell a very different story. Apple really needs to sit up and take notice.

[Victor ch]

Originally Posted by iDAG

I had no idea that people hated at&t that much...

Or that there is no AT&T where they live But its interesting here in Costa Rica there are a couple of idiots making profit for unlocking iPhones they charge 750-900$ a piece I just hope that they cannot unlock 1.1.1 and loose their money; unlocked ones to individuals or people who do not make profit should be OK but guys like the ones Im telling just make me sick, they see it at a business not a give me 5$ and I'll unlock it, but instead I'll sell you one for 900$

-Victor

[elppa]

Originally Posted by walexx

Hopefully this will make Apple sit up and take notice. People want the iPhone and they want it now. They dont want to be locked into a network and well, they should just release an unlocked version and be done with it.

The fact that there are 250k unlocked phones and there and forums around the world have these people posting their thoughts and experiences and confirming the networks that it will work on is great and free market research and field testing for Apple.

They think they know whats best for people but 17% of all iPhone sales tell a very different story. Apple really needs to sit up and take notice.

They also know what's good for their wallets and the revenue they get from these exclusive deals with O2, Orange, T-Mobile, the new AT&T etc. are really good for Apple as they allow them to make money long after the phone has shipped.

[Drumjim85]

Now i can see why Apple is Trying so hard to lock the phones and make people move over to ATT to use them ...

average iphone plan = $90/month
Apple makes %30 of that ?? (right?)

90*24(months)*.3*250,000 = $162,000,000

[kwood]

Originally Posted by bigandy

it's not just hating att, because there are quite a few that have made it over here, and quite a few other non-us territories.

Yeah, I saw one up in Toronto Canada last Friday. And no it was not an iPod touch, I know the difference.

[Luis]

Originally Posted by iDAG

I had no idea that people hated at&t that much...

I would use it with ATT if I could, the problem is that there is no ATT over here.

[odedia]

Hey, I by myself represent 3 out of those 250,000 phones.

And I don't even live in the U.S. but I use them quite well here in Israel .

Free the iPhone!

[ogee]

Originally Posted by Victor ch

unlocked ones to individuals or people who do not make profit should be OK but guys like the ones Im telling just make me sick, they see it at a business not a give me 5$ and I'll unlock it, but instead I'll sell you one for 900$

-Victor

Thats supply and demand. I got an iPhone over ebay for 399 Euros, had to pay tax on top so total cost was about 460 Euros. The person who sold it to me paid 399 US$ so he made a profit.

I unlocked the phone and after a week I sold it for 520 Euros. I will get an official one for myself one day, but not just yet. Had I not been offered a profit I would have kept it.

Victor

[Darkroom]

Originally Posted by kwood

Yeah, I saw one up in Toronto Canada last Friday. And no it was not an iPod touch, I know the difference.

could have been an american... but it's true that i'm sure many canadians have unlocked iPhones... and to tell you the truth i'm sure the number of unlocked iPhones will increase dramatically once Rogers announces their ridiculous cost/plan rates for the iPhone when it's finally released here...

[kwood]

Originally Posted by Darkroom

could have been an american... but it's true that i'm sure many canadians have unlocked iPhones... and to tell you the truth i'm sure the number of unlocked iPhones will increase dramatically once Rogers announces their ridiculous cost/plan rates for the iPhone when it's finally released here...

That's true, I have never thought about that. But I know of a bunch of Canadians who have "talked" about buying one and unlocking it. But none of them have actually done it.

[alljunks]

they should just sell it unlock...and sell more....

most people do not want the new contract....not-necessary its ATT's problem..

[chr1s60]

I am sure not all 250,000 of these have been unlocked. The high majority of them probably have been, but depending on how long they wait to declare them unlocked there could be a lot of phones out there that have been purchased that are waiting to be sold, waiting to be given as a gift, or any other reason.

[Grimace]

The exclusive AT&T deal was the comprimise for Apple taking a cut of the monthly phone bill. That is good for Apple, but comes at the expense of choice.

Apple is probably banking on the government passing legislation that says you can't lock a phone to one carrier. Sorry AT&T -- it's the law!!

[sananda]

Originally Posted by alljunks

they should just sell it unlock...and sell more....

they can't now; they have tied themselves up with at&t for five years.

[BuckarooBonzai]

I want to violate my warranty; hack the phone so I could use T-Mobile (The only other GSM provider in the US). Who (by the way) leases most of their network from AT&T. Now once I'm on T-Mobile, I could sign up for their $39.99 Total Internet Data Plan + $39.99 myFaves 300 talk plan....Instead of AT&T $59.99 iPhone plan that includes talk/data. I think the 250K phones are just a bunch of noise in the system that dominates chat rooms like this. If folks are using this phone in other markets besides the US; I don't see how AT&T will care - They'll get their $175 cancellation fee. That's the US Market view. Internationally...I see your point a little clearer. However, if the manufacturer (Apple) wants to limit their user base. That's their business. Countless products (Electronics and others) do exactly the same thing.

[gagarin]

Originally Posted by bigandy

it's not just hating att, because there are quite a few that have made it over here, and quite a few other non-us territories.

Right. I think that at&t iPhone plans are pretty good ones (I know nothing about service though) compared to plans here. But, in Ukraine, you just can't use at&t.

I bought 2 of those 250,000: one for friend and one for myself. Friend unlocked his with free anySIM while on 1.0.2, I activated mine but still haven't unlocked it. I have a phone for calls and wait for the dust after new firmware brickage to settle. Personally, I'm inclined to pay and use IPSF. Still no guaranties if it's really update proof.

I buy songs and videos on iTMS and like to preview new music(I find iTMS really good alternative to buying full albums in normal stores) so I really want these 1.1.1 update. And know what? I would become pretty upset if Apple had to decide to do something on purpose to lock my iPhone unbreakable after I'll unlock it.

[Rodimus Prime]

Originally Posted by Grimace

The exclusive AT&T deal was the comprimise for Apple taking a cut of the monthly phone bill. That is good for Apple, but comes at the expense of choice.

Apple is probably banking on the government passing legislation that says you can't lock a phone to one carrier. Sorry AT&T -- it's the law!!

some how I could see there being a clause in the contract saying if that happens AT&T does not have to hand over a dime. Also there would be some loop hole in that law allowing them still to do it.

[BuckarooBonzai]

For AT&T this is a huge non-issue. They basically negotiated for Apple to stick with the GSM-enabled device. Thus, regardless of any unlocking device; it leaves Verizon Wireless - The only competition AT&T has out in the cold. Trust me, AT&T is not worried about T-Mobile. The other GSM US provider; who leases a majority of their Wireless Spectrum from AT&T anyways. On top of that, T-Mobile's rate plans are more expensive than AT&T's.

[notjustjay]

I found a store here in Ottawa that sells them for $699 Cdn. Ouch! Assumed unlocked, but I didn't ask.

[lord patton]

Originally Posted by walexx

They think they know whats best for people but 17% of all iPhone sales tell a very different story. Apple really needs to sit up and take notice.

nope.

Originally Posted by elppa

They also know what's good for their wallets and the revenue they get from these exclusive deals with O2, Orange, T-Mobile, the new AT&T etc. are really good for Apple as they allow them to make money long after the phone has shipped.

yup.

[elgruga]

we have iPhones!

There are around 1700 ads for iPhones on Craigslist Vancouver over the last 3 months.
I thnk that maybe there are 3-5000 iPhones in the Vancouver area, but this is more of a Mac place than Toronto -?

Apple know that the figure of 250,000 is accurate - how could they not?

Its obvious that the iPhone will be sold unlocked soon enough, as it is in France when it launches.

Do I like my iPhone? NO.
I LOVE it!

As for the As*****s at Rogers - they will never 'get it' - they are too STUPID to see that if more people used their data plans, they would make more money, so they continue to offer.....wait for it......50 mb a month for $65!
Total wankers. Who cares if it ever comes to Rogers? We have all the unlocked iPhones we need from Seattle area, although they are going for $550 here, which is a premium of around $50 if the iPhone was priced the same as the iPod touch at $449 plus 13% taxes.

Its still worth it, even though the warranty may get a bit iffy....