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Apple cracking down on unlocked iPhone sales – limits iPhone purchases to 2 per credit card, no cash

Categories: Announcements, Apple, AT&T, iPhone
By: , IntoMobile
Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 2:17 PM

iPhone cash buyers are out of luck - credit or debit card only for 2 iPhones per personLast time we checked we were still in America. But, apparently, once you step inside an Apple Store, you’re on Steve Jobs’ turf – and subject to his rules. In an effort to curb the seemingly rampant sales of unlocked iPhones through, say, eBay, Stevie has limited iPhone sales to 2 per person!

Just how does Apple intend to enforce this ruling? Well, in his infinite wisdom, Stevie has decreed that iPhones will henceforth only be sold to plastic customers – if you want an iPhone, you’d better warm up your credit or debit card, no cash will be accepted. Don’t have any plastic? You might be SOL.

You see, Apple has estimated that fully 250,000 of the 1.4 million iPhones sold thus far were summarily unlocked and sold for use outside of AT&T’s network. And, with Apple speculated to be making a couple hundred dollars per iPhone per year from their revenue sharing deal with AT&T, 250,000 unlocked iPhones represents millions in lost revenue. Apple only gets the kickback from iPhones using AT&T’s network – unlocked iPhones on other networks are outside the scope of that deal and essentially take money put of Apple’s healthy coffers.

So, if you’re planning on buying all your friends and loved ones an iPhone this holiday shopping season, you’d better distribute your iPhone allotment across multiple cards. Pre-paid debit cards anyone?

[Via: NYT]

About The Author

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

  • Stefan Constantinescu

    2 articles down ;-)

  • jfernandez

    I just bought 5 of them at apple.com. I don’t know what they are talking about.

  • Viipottaja

    You know, I finally love the iPhone: it is doing so much harm to the image of Apple, that people are finally starting to see that Apple is just a company like all the others. Nothing more, nothing less. Great products, usability and design at a premium price. Out there to make money, not to save the world. Not holier than thou, possibly a little less holy than some others even.

  • forestw

    What do you expect? This is a company who has built it’s market on the idea that the end user is ignorant of what to do with technology and therefore has to be controlled. You fork out the money but they still own the experience. No thanks, like millions of others, I won’t buy a company’s products if I can’t say that I own what I’m shelling out my hard earned cash for.

  • make money with adsense

    Fine Ideas, but do you have more detailed info on this topic, another blog or links to other helpful websites too.