It has been a month since the ‘missing’ iPhone controversy broke out in early January 2008. There were umpteen numbers of facts along with various assumptions to trace the whereabouts of those 1.7 million iPhones pending activation.
Apple has disclosed in their annual report in the end of 2007 about selling 3.75 million iPhones. A week later, it reported that only AT&T has activated 2 million of those 3.37 million iPhones sold, the only service provider partner of Apple in the United States. Now, what happened to the remaining 1.7 million is still inconclusive.
Statistics reveal that approximately a user activates their new iPhone within 3 days of purchase. So, if 3.75 million iPhones were sold pre-Christmas, why haven’t they activated their Christmas gift. Or, does this mystery has a missing link with a number of online stores selling unlocked iPhones at ‘attractive’ rates on Christmas sale?
There were several theories, doing the round about possible status of those missing iPhones reports of inventory backlog at AT&T Mobility to alleged cover-up in Apple Inc.’s warehouses. However,
In a shocking revelation, Shawn Zade, senior sales associate at WirelessImports.com has claimed of loopholes in Apple’s distribution process and AT&T Mobility stores that favor them in obtaining hundreds of ready-to-use iPhones each month. He also threw light on how they unlock the iPhones on request, although they denied having set an establishment for unlocking services. This service they said is offered only through appointment or through mail-in-service, where you can get your iPhone unlocked by mailing it to a certain address.
There are also options where the iPhones shipped overseas to other resellers can themselves perform the unlocking procedure. Try doing a Sherlock Homes act yourself and search the web for ‘unlocked iPhones on sale’. You will be surprised to see quite a number of sites selling them and even promising shipments to overseas market. Probably, now you know where the 1.7 million ‘missing’ iPhones have gone missing.
