Selling unlocked iPhones: Apple starts the crackdown. Uh oh.

12/07/07

Posted under News, Business, Issues, iPhone, Apple Inc., Breaking News

Ooh. Apple seems to have finally gotten off its butt and is starting to throw its weight around.

Wireless distributors in Singapore who are selling unlocked iPhones have been told to stop under threat of legal action, and Sim Lim Square shops have started pulling the units off their shelves. Reuters reports that Apple is intending to charge these distributors a penalty of US$700 per unit sold “illegally.”

Danish wireless distributor Telekæden, which is selling unlocked iPhones for US$1200 online, was also threatened by Apple to cease and desist. Canadian website iPhonenow.ca is running ads to sell iPhones online during the holiday season, and is expected to be targeted by Apple any time now.

At the moment, the only entity allowed to sell unlocked iPhones is France Telecom’s Orange, which is doing so legally at about US$1100 per unit. Everyone else watch out.

This news bodes ill for itinerant iPhone enterpreneurs worldwide making a killing selling them openly, now that Apple seems bristling for a fight. Things have gotten interesting again all of a sudden.

Powered by Gregarious (21)

4 Responses to “Selling unlocked iPhones: Apple starts the crackdown. Uh oh.”

  1. 4
    raymond Says:

    hello much for 50 pieces of apple ipod touch 16 gb , john lennon box.

  2. 3
    xtine Says:

    I just wanna ask if apple iphone is available in philippines???

  3. 2
    obvious Says:

    Obviously it’s in an Apple Store. For a while this was rather a common sight actually.

  4. 1
    Eytan Says:

    Is that picture in an Apple Store????
    Because it is showing an unlocked phone with apptapp installer in it (the WiFi store on the left instead of the right and an extra icon to the right of it…)
    I could not imagine seeing it that way in an Apple store??

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