10% of iPhones Sold in September were Unlocked, Says Analyst

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10% of iPhones Sold in September were Unlocked, Says Analyst

6:15 am on October 8, 2007 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices, Cell Phones, Software

As many as 10% of the Apple iPhones sold in the U.S. in September have been unlocked and resold on the gray market, according to Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster.

Munster came to this conclusion after analyzing iPhone sales in Apple stores throughout the country, and determining the number of devices purchased in the maximum five-per-customer allotment.

Apple employees have acknowledged that customers buying five iPhones at a time were almost certainly intending to resell them for a profit.

A recent Apple software update, however, which renders unlocked iPhone devices essentially useless, will likely cause this “alternative” market to dry up, at least for the time being. Entrepreneurs who took advantage of the brief market for unlocked iPhones were selling the devices around the world at a markup of approximately 56%, according to Munster.