Analysis: One-third of iPhones sold to unlock

“Based upon figures released by Apple and its iPhone partner companies, then analyzed by iLounge, up to 35% of iPhones sold to date may have been purchased with the intent to unlock. According to Apple, slightly over 3.7 million of the handsets were sold in 2007, while its primary service partner AT&T today announced that it ended the year with “just at or slightly under 2 million iPhone customers.” Additionally, though the phone’s European carriers O2, Orange, and T-Mobile have not released official iPhone sales figures, estimates place their unit sales at or below the low end of their targets, suggesting that cumulative European sales now total 300,000-400,000, for a liberal estimate of 2.4 million.”

“Even if all of these customers kept their iPhones locked to these carriers, this number would leave around 1.3 million iPhones unaccounted for—approximately 35% of total iPhone sales in 2007.”

Is Apple creating a rock for it’s own back in years to come by insisting that all iPhones are locked to a single carrier ?

Users who ‘unlock’ iPhone a source of worry for Apple analysts - MarketWatch

“Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research said in a report Monday that unlocking could help Apple reach its goal of selling 10 million units this year. However, he added that unlocked phones hurt the performance of the company’s iPhone business, since they generate no recurring carrier payments.”

“For every 1 million iPhone units unlocked, Apple forgoes $300 million to $400 million in future revenue and profit, Sacconaghi wrote in his report.”

People will continue to Jailbreak their iPhones so that they can use them on other carriers. It even seems that those early Jailbreakers who reduced their expensive phones to bricks as a result of tampering with Apple’s locked down devices can now revive their phones with the latest software update to them.

Me ? I’d wait for the next release of the hardware due to be available this year and I would defineately unlock it. Let’s hope that Apple has the money to continue development of this device and that it doesn’t go the same way as the Newton …

Then again ….