Rumor: Apple iPhone could be sold unlocked?

Apple could not get us to trade up to subsequent iPhone releases if the phone was not unlocked. Their best interests are to sell unlocked phones because to sell a locked phone is to take the customer out of the upgrade market for 2 years. In the last 2 years I have bought 3 ipods. So taking myself as an example, as a locked customer I am worth $300 over 2 years to Apple and Apple has to wrestle with the telcos to get even a minority share of that money. As an unlocked customer I am worth $600 over 2 years to Apple and they get all of that money.

If it is GSM, I have to imagine it will be sold unlocked. I bought my Sony Z520i unlocked in Dubai... there is no other way to buy them. Buy the phone, buy a SIM and you're set. Move to another country or go on holiday, buy a local SIM and it just works. The US way of tying a phone to the provider is unique and odd... nobody else does it this way.

AllTel is an MVNO that is immensely successful. They piggyback on Verizon.

This is a nicxe idea, but I still question the willingness of network providers to support iPhone functionality. For example, if I buy an Iphone and slip my current Vodafone SIM card into the handset, what functionality can I expect from my current contract? Sure, I'll get voice, text, basic web functionality, but what of over-the-air iTunes downloads? I know how much I'll be paying Apple, but if the network charges their extortionate per Mb download charges, then I'll be paying an effective US$5 per song rendering the key functionality of the iPhone useless.

The networks still have to support the iPhone in order for Apple to make a success of the device. Can Apple rely on selling enough of the devices up front to force networks to support them on Apple's terms? That would be an interesting gamble.

Personally, me and my friends have been waiting forever for news of this phone. It's best of both worlds. Apple and Phones

The American mobile market is weird. I've never bought a locked phone in my life.

The Nokia Stores in Chicago and New York sell all their phones UNlocked, their N-Series phones are quite nice too

The thing is, MVNO's are getting *killed* financially right now. Amp'd does most of their business providing content to overseas networks. ESPN Mobile is already out of business. Helio won't disclose how many subscribers they actually (don't) have. I know Apple is all about reshaping the game, but I'd be really surpised if they decided that they could somehow make being an MVNO profitable.

And while an unsubsidized iPhone would cost more than people are used to paying for cell phones in the US, it probably wouldn't cost that much more than people are used to paying for their iPods. An Apple phone with 8GB nano-esque music player qualities, a 2MP+ camera and other goodies (iTunes/iPhoto integration, etc) -- I think people would pay $200-300 for that because they'd see it as a value-add nano, and not as an expensive cell phone.

The one locked phone scenario that momentarily made sense to me was some sort of parternship with TMobile in which buying a WiFi-capable iPhone gets you free TMobile Hot Spot access, but only to the iTunes Store. That way you could purchase/download music directly to the phone either from home or at a TMob-branded hot spot. Then everyone gets to upsell: Apple upsells iTunes music, TMob upsells full Hot Spot service plans, and Starbucks upsells that overpriced, overroasted coffee of theirs because lots of SBs have TMob HotSpots already in place.

But I don't think they'll do that. If anything, I'd think we're more likely to see some sort of Apple-Google bid to take over the world via Google WiFi and VOIP on an iPhone. For now, I'd say any Apple phone will be unlocked GSM.

Sorry Verizon & Sprint customers ... ain't no way Apple's playing nice with CDMA. Too much of the world already uses GSM, *and* Verizon and Sprint already have their own music stores online. Apple's not going to sell you a device made to access someone else's music, and Verizon/Sprint aren't going to support a device made to access iTMS.

It really doesn't matter if it comes locked or unlocked - someone within DAYS will have a post on Digg or slashdot about how to unlock it. Just type in your brand name and the word unlock into Google and you'll get dozens of paid and free solutions to unlock your phone.

The logical choice here is for Apple to be a GSM MVNO.

Although about half the phones are sold unlocked in europe at the moment carriers still subsidize handsets considerably if you buy them together with a contract. Sometimes up to 300 euro's per phone. If Apple would attempt to sell the phones contract-less only they would simply price themselves out of the market. Not sure what the situation in the US is but in europe this will not fly in the forseeable future. Carriers are attempting to stop the phone subsidies but as long as some carriers still hand out money it won't be an option if you want to compete.