Analyst: 10 percent of September iPhone sales were unlocked, resold
Unlocked iPhones continue to be a hot commodity around the world -- carrier locking and limited regional availability will tend to do that to a popular handset, don't cha' know -- but it still might come as some surprise just how hot we're talking about here. Analysts at Piper Jaffray report that folks buying the per-customer limit of 5 iPhones were a common sight in twelve hours of research it undertook during September, suggesting that as many as 10 percent of all new iPhones sold during the month went on to become unlocked and resold. Of course, with the possibility (if not likelihood) that future firmware updates will continue to temporarily brick, relock, or otherwise cripple unlocked devices in the field, the street value of these things likely fluctuates by the minute. You know what they say: buy low, sell high.
