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Where in the world are Apple’s missing 1.3 million iPhones? Iran? Holland? South Africa? Yes! Lots of other places too.
We asked for pics and you answered: iPhones from around the world, from countries where the iPhone isn’t even sold with service. Canada makes sense, as a quick trip across the border will land you an iPhone. China also makes sense, as it wouldn’t be Hong Kong without a gray market plethora of unlocked iPhones, would it? We got reports from almost every part of the globe, and put together a nice little gallery to show just how popular this gadget is — service or not. Where there’s a hack, there’s a way…
I wonder if these unlocked iPhones piss off Apple more than they might the competition?
yay! iPhone in the Philippines! but.. I won’t buy one… I might get it bricked in the end. =/
About being bricked. Can you imagine Apple bricking 1.3 million phones? How would that affect their “Think Different” Image?
To be on the safe side, I wouldn’t be installing any updates.
I hope, Apple would reconsider and really think different about this matter. They should open up the iPhone. I really wanted to buy one. Been seeing some with their iPhones here in the Phils, but, I won’t get one till its officially released here. Or will they? Not sure… I’ll buy an iPod touch instead. 😀
unlock the phone. Start the revolution already Jobs
I don’t know much about iPhone unlocking, but I know you can buy an iPhone in France which can be used on any phone network, and not only the service network chosen by Apple ( Orange ). Of course, this version of iPhone is more expensive …
In France, customers must always be able to buy a mobile phone alone, ans to subscribe the service they choose ( or no service). That’s the law.
“I wonder if these unlocked iPhones piss off Apple more than they might the competition?”
Apple has always built their hardware on the assumption that they’re maintaining control of what runs on it. Other companies (RIM, Palm, Samsung, Nokia, etc.) know that their smartphone customers will, one way or the other, get the service they want, so they make them telco-neutral.
That said, I’ve got ATT service with a data plan, and I’d much rather have an iPhone than my Samsung SYNC.
I have an old, grandfathered plan from the “original” AT&T wireless (AT&T blue): $85/month for unlimited calling anywhere in the US. (I have an unlimited data plan on top of that for another ~$20/month). I’d love to get an iPhone, but the only way I can get one is to give up my grandfathered plan (not gonna happen) or use an unlocked iPhone (which means no updates since I don’t want no brick!)
Oh well. Maybe someday Apple will open up the phones. In the meantime, I’m lusting after the newest Nokia smartphones (e.g. N95). Although not quite as slick as the iPhone, I can use it on my plan and it has a lot of features that the iPhone does not (3G, much better camera, etc.). Oh, and it gets Nokia quality reception (the best) which is a lot better than the reception of the iPhone (which is decent but not great).