[j__1]

That would be worldwide sales... I assume.

Slashdot | Apple Says 250,000 iPhones Sold to Unlockers

Originally posted by Zonk on Tuesday October 23, @11:32AM on Slashdot.
from the consumer-electronics-yearning-to-be-free dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Timothy D. Cook, Chief Operating Officer at Apple, disclosed during Apple's conference call to discuss their fourth quarter earnings that they estimate 250,000 of the 1.4 Million iPhones that have been sold were bought by people intending to unlock the phone. 'The elasticity in demand with the price drop] enabled us to far surpass our expectation of hitting around a million units cumulatively by the end of the quarter. Some number of these were sold to people that have an intention to unlock and [while] we don't know precisely how many people are doing that, our current guess is there is probably 250,000 of the 1.4 million that we sold where people had bought them with the intention of doing that. Many of those happened after the price cut.' Apple knows how many iPhones have been sold and how many have been activated with ATT. The difference is the number that are unlocked."

[kinjutsu11]

Well actually, this is only US Sales, the iPhone doesn't start hitting international carriers until Nov 9th, some go live later. But it's amazing that 20% (or more, as there are no exact numbers released) of their sales were iPhone used to be unlocked! That's ridiculous. And I bet AT&T ain't too happy about that!! I'm sure Apple would have loved to see those AT&T revenues from those 250,000 iPhones, but you don't hear em complaining too much. I actually just picked up a 1.1.1 iPhone for my sister and unlocked it, so I'm a part of that statistic!! LOL

[j__1]

Originally Posted by kinjutsu11

Well actually, this is only US Sales, the iPhone doesn't start hitting international carriers until Nov 9th, some go live later.

Danger Will Robinson, danger!

I was speaking specifically about the 'black' market devices... This market extends north, south, east, and west of Apple's US presence.

[kinjutsu11]

Originally Posted by j__1

Danger Will Robinson, danger!

I was speaking specifically about the 'black' market devices... This market extends north, south, east, and west of Apple's US presence.

Ah I see what you mean now. That'svery true, I'm curious if this will hinder an iPhone sales overseas. Did you hear that Apple is selling the iPhone in France both lockd and unlocked?! French law dictates they have to, and Apple is charging a premium for the unlocked ones. I bet Orange in France isn't too pleased with that setup...LOL

[tmobilefan]

Wow. A lot of people are unlocking their phones!

[j__1]

Originally Posted by tmobilefan

Wow. A lot of people are unlocking their phones!

Relatively speaking... I don't know. If it was just the US, I would certainly agree.

I would like to see a national vs. worldwide statistic... a few hundred thousand, while an impressive number, may not be a lot in the grand scheme of the world market (i.e., many billion).

[j__1]

Originally Posted by kinjutsu11

Did you hear that Apple is selling the iPhone in France both lockd and unlocked?! French law dictates they have to, and Apple is charging a premium for the unlocked ones. I bet Orange in France isn't too pleased with that setup...LOL

Yup! That will certainly be interesting.

From my perspective, Apple is getting themselves into a tight spot... While they could refine and tighten control from an iTunes perspective, when we're talking about hundred of thousands of 'rebels' already, I'm not sure they want to reinforce a second uncontrolled development track.

That said, they still have a number of exclusive contracts to deal with... So I'm sure they'll be getting some pressure... on multiple fronts.

Time to grab some popcorn and plop down into a comfortable chair?

[Fred333]

I don't thik they will be able to control the unlocking issues. Consumers will always find a way.