Grey market knows Iphone market better than Apple

A RECENT REPORT claims that 25-33 per cent of all Iphones sold have been unlocked and supplied to folks that prefer to roll contract-free.

As a result Apple is losing millions in revenue from the monthly tariff-sharing scheme it rammed down its telco partners' throats. The irony of this last bit surely isn't lost on any of the recipients of said ramming. That pain probably has not subsided.

It;s interesting that grey marketeers have proven that Apple could be making the same amount of money by selling the phones outright. The additional revenue ($20/month for the duration of the contract according to some estimates) is pretty close to the margin that grey market unlockers are achieving.

The rarer fully-unlocked Iphones sell for $600-700. A newer model, that has thus far eluded attempts to software unlock is $100 cheaper on the open market but you need to buy a TurboSIM or similar device to use the phone features (thereby bringing the cost back up to $700 or so).

Don't forget that these are sold essentially warranty free as they have been modded - so you can potentially add another 10 per cent to the price if you factor in a full factory warranty without the fear of being told to sod off when your phone breaks (that being what the owner of a modded ophone should expect).

In creating these complex deals, Apple has in essence traded a bird in hand for one in the bush. That is of course the opposite of ideal. Even more concerning is that they have put off several telcos around the world by forcing their way on companies that already have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't.

Factor in accounting costs (with subscription revenue) risk of non paying subscribers and other factors and you can clearly see that Apple is passing up a significant amount of business by not selling its phones unlocked for dubious benefits. As sales peeter out in Europe, there will be a lot of pressure to sell the Iphone unlocked. One wonders why this has to be an either/or proposition.

If Apple won't do it there are lots of folk on Ebay that will. µ