10% of iPhones sold to unlockers


Quoting data from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, AppleInsider reports that up to 10 percent of iPhones sold in brick-n-mortar Apple Stores during September went to unlockers.

"In late September we spent 12 hours counting iPhone, iPod and Mac sales in Apple stores across the country," analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to clients. "During our store checks we noticed many people buying iPhones in the maximum five per customer allotments, which we believe were being purchased to be unlocked and operated on carriers other than AT&T.

"At one point during the visit, the store sold out of iPhones," he added. "Judging from our checks, as much as 10 percent of the iPhones sold in September were purchased with the intention to be resold unlocked."

The analyst said this trend was especially noticeable in the New York City stores, where one Apple employee acknowledged that customers were buying five iPhones per store visit in order to turn around and resell them unlocked.

Edtior's note: That figure seems a bit high. Even if we're only talking 5 percent, then there might be tens of thousands of bricked iPhones gathering angst worldwide and that can't be good for Apple, let alone users...

What's your take?