Apple might like the sales of iPhones but the gray market makes it harder to maximise revenue on each sale.
I enjoyed this from Wired magazine …
iBricking n. What it’s called when Apple’s 1.1.1 system up date detects third-party software and disables an iPhone. By rendering the product useless, Apple punishes disloyal customers – and protects itself from the threat that they’ll ever be Apple customers again.
Various reports show that over 1 million Apple iPhones have been sold without the, theoretically compulsory, contract with a particular phone carrier. Apple has sold 3.7 million iPhones but only 2.3 million have been registered on an approved network.
Another report says that 400,000 iPhones are in use in China alone – and Apple doesn’t have any iPhone arrangement with a Chinese phone company!
It seems iPhones are popular but not in the way that Apple fully might like. The company likes the sales of iPhones but the gray market makes it harder to maximise revenue on each sale.
A useful summary of the current state of unapproved iPhone sales is on MSNBC.
While the iPhone is clever there are limitations in the current models which makes even an early adopter geek like me wait. The non-replaceable battery (like other iPods and Macbook Air) is blatant example of in-built obsolescence. iPhone’s don’t support the faster mobile phone networks (aka ‘3G’) which limits the benefits of the devices Internet connectivity.
