Unlocked iPhone 4 Further Extends Sales Cycle, But Will the iPhone 5 Come Unlocked As Well?

iPhone 4 - unlocked

Apple has once again offered a variation on the iPhone 4, this time with an “unlocked” version. Will Apple do the same with the iPhone 5 as well?
Perhaps in a bid to give its iPhone 4 one final, gallant rush of sales, Apple has albeit quietly released an unlocked version of the iPhone 4 on its website. The new unlocked version is contract- and carrier-free, giving users a sim-free slot to stick a GSM sim card of their choice into it — a much-needed option for business users. While Apple has done little promote their newest chapter in the iPhone 4 saga, our guess is that they have most likely reached out to corporations in a B2B marketing push that we average consumers are not seeing.
As Josh Lowensohn at CNET says that, “This new option allows companies big and small to buy phones that will work just about anywhere, and without a contract. This is likely to have a bigger impact on frequent business travelers who are hopping between countries and may not have a company roaming plan.” Due to the fact that “In its most recent quarterly earnings call, Apple noted that the iPhone was being tested or deployed by 88 percent of the Fortune 500,” meaning that businesses could buy up a ton of unlocked iPhone 4s this summer, boosting business sales. Even an increase in government sales of the iPhone 4 could be imminent with this new feature, based on an earlier report that more and more Federal agencies are embracing the use of iPhones.
At $649 and $749 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively, the new unlocked iPhone 4 isn’t a bad deal, and more importantly, it gives prospective iPhone users who travel extensively and seek to be untethered by contracts and carriers a certain degree of freedom that has been lacking in the otherwise proprietary iPhone experience.
You can check out the product page at apple.com here.
Will the iPhone 5 Come Unlocked From the Start?
The appearance of the unlocked iPhone 4 begs the question — will the iPhone 5 feature an unlocked version as well? There is no evidence to suggest either way if Apple will unlock the iPhone 5 from the start, but my opinion is that, at most, Apple will wait to offer the unlocked version at the end of the iPhone 5‘s sales cycle — just as they have with the iPhone 4.
Apple is famous for business and revenue models based on proprietary systems, in-house technologies, and close-bonded partnerships: iTunes, the aversion to third-party technology, and a limited palette of mobile carriers in the U.S. combines to form a tightly-woven tapestry of business infrastructure that keeps Apple customers locked in to their computing experience. A free-form, open-source, “unlocked” approach to doing business is not typical for Apple. That’s Android’s domain.
In additi0n, Apple relies on the leverage of its partnerships with AT&T, Verizon, and perhaps T-Mobile and even Sprint in the future, to tap into vast quantities of mobile phone subscribers who because iPhone users by purchasing them through their carrier. Would Apple sell nearly as many iPhones if it were not for these strategic partnerships? My guess is no.
The only development over the next three months that could change this prognostication would be if companies begin to adopt the iPhone en masse, and Apple sees huge gains as a result. And it isn’t impossible to imagine: Blackberry has been the go-to device for business smartphones for quite some time now, and in many ways, they are seen as “legacy” devices that lack the flexibility and reliability of the iPhone. As business 2.0 hits its stride, the iPhone may become the smartphone of choice for business users.
And now, Apple has given them an iPhone that likes to travel internationally.