14 DAY TRIAL // World's latest celebrity regarding mobile phones, the Apple iPhone, can now be purchased without having to sign the original 18-month contract and dealing with the locked network provider. The unlocking of the device, started by Far Eastern retailers on technical websites has rapidly gone mainstream, making the handset available on the internet for less than the official sellers' price. Another advantage of this would be the fact that buyers no longer have to pay for the mandatory 18-month minimum contract.
Unlocked iPhones sold like fresh bread on the market, triggering Apple's reaction, who threatened to sue the Singapore retailers for $1,000 for every unlocked headset they have sold. The selling in Singapore has reportedly stopped, as the handsets went out of stock and Apple found the proper solution to put an end to unlocking the iPhones, as every update released reverts it to a lock state, submitting people to the risk of not being able to use the headset at all.
However, this is not the only problem Apple faced with this selling strategy, challenged by France and Germany who had to sell the unlocked iPhone due to the countries' consumer laws. The spokesman for O2, the developer of the smart phone declared for the Times: "We don't really understand why anyone would want to buy an unlocked phone. If you're spending that amount of money on the phone and then unlocking it you run the risk of turning it into a useless brick", but buyers' reaction seems to show something else, as unlocked handsets selling has jumped through the ceiling.
It simply seems to me that the iPhone, the highly desired mobile masterpiece, will continue selling, locked or otherwise, until brilliant people come up with more than this perfect combination of handset, iPod and Internet browser.