Re: The end of thread for a while BUT with an editors commentApple IPhone Sales Buoyed by Hacker Demand Overseas,

[David Farber <dfarber () cs cmu edu>]

If Microsoft adopted a similar policy -- namely a tough luck if you  
dare run any 3 rd party drivers, system apps etc, we would all be  
yelling for Justice to pound them down. But when Apple does the same  
we just say -- well you had the option of not buying it. Where did  
Apple tell anyone they would brick iphones in the future.

BTW I understand that some mods can cause accidental bricking of  
iphones or computers. IF Apple intentionally did that they should be  
shot  (sued ).

Dave

Begin forwarded message:

From: "RJR RJRiley.com" <RJR () RJRILEY com>
Date: October 5, 2007 8:18:24 PM EDT
To: <dave () farber net>
Subject: RE: [IP] Apple IPhone Sales Buoyed by Hacker Demand Overseas,

<<The company advised users with the now-broken, hacked phones to buy  
a new
one, Sacconaghi said. ``This may deter folks from unlocking in the
future.''>>

More like deter them from buying Apple products.  It sounds to me  
like Apple
has intentionally trashed people's property.  I smell the makings of  
a class
action lawsuit against Apple.  There really is no nice way to discuss  
the
high handed arrogance of Apple, there are real SOB's in my opinion.

Ron Riley

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dfarber () cs cmu edu]
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 6:28 PM
To: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: [IP] Apple IPhone Sales Buoyed by Hacker Demand Overseas,


Apple IPhone Sales Buoyed by Hacker Demand Overseas, Piper Says
2007-10-05 15:40 (New York)


By Connie Guglielmo and Crayton Harrison
      Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- One of every 10 iPhones may have been  
unlocked
to run on unauthorized wireless networks, forcing Apple Inc. to quash  
those
efforts to avoid losing lucrative service fees for the handsets,  
according
to Piper Jaffray & Co.
      Overseas demand is prompting some buyers to purchase five  
phones at a
time at Apple stores in the U.S., modify the software that makes the  
devices
only work with AT&T Inc.'s service and resell the unlocked phones,  
analyst
Gene Munster said.
      Because it gets an undisclosed slice of AT&T's monthly fees,  
Apple
loses money when buyers don't sign on to that service. So far the lost
revenue hasn't hurt Apple and to keep it that way Chief Executive  
Officer
Steve Jobs last week updated the device's software to make the hacked  
phones
unusable, a process users say turns the devices into ``bricks.''
      ``As much as 10 percent of the iPhones sold in the September  
quarter
were purchased with the intention to be resold unlocked,'' Munster  
said in a
report yesterday. ``Apple effectively minimized the market for unlocked
iPhones'' when its update made many inoperable, he said.
      Munster based his estimate on sales of 1.05 million iPhones in  
the
three months ended in September.
      Apple won't say how many buyers may have unlocked the $399 iPhone
since it went on sale June 29, according to Natalie Kerris, a  
spokeswoman
for the Cupertino, California-based company. AT&T, the exclusive  
provider of
mobile-phone service for the handset in the U.S., also declined to  
provide
an estimate.
      ``We've seen relatively few instances of it,'' AT&T spokesman  
Mark
Siegel said. ``I have a strong feeling that the incidence of hacking  
is in
inverse proportion to all the blogging and news stories about it.''

                         Generous Numbers

      Jobs is counting on his first-ever mobile phone to become Apple's
third major business, alongside the Macintosh computer and iPod. He  
cut the
price by $200 in September to spur holiday orders, and has forecast 10
million shipments in 2008.
      ``The majority of users are just not interested in hacking the  
iPhone
and second, not capable technically,'' said Shaw Wu, an American  
Technology
Research analyst in San Francisco. He said less than 1 percent, or about
10,000 iPhones, may have been unlocked. ``One percent is even being
generous.''
      Apple has said it will receive a cut of the $60 to $220 in  
monthly
fees San Antonio-based AT&T charges iPhone owners as part of a required
two-year contract.
      Sanford C. Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi, the top-ranked computer
analyst according to Institutional Investor magazine, calculates AT&T's
payout at $15 a month per user.
      AT&T and three European wireless carriers due to sell the  
iPhone in
November may pay a combined $715 million to Apple next year, based on an
estimated 7 million iPhones sold. Those fees will account for more  
than a
third of Apple's total iPhone sales in 2008, Sacconaghi said.

                         Deterring Hackers

      Apple rose $3.72 to $159.96 at 3:25 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market
trading. Before today, the shares had gained 83 percent since Jobs  
announced
the iPhone Jan. 9.
      The company advised users with the now-broken, hacked phones  
to buy a
new one, Sacconaghi said. ``This may deter folks from unlocking in the
future.''
      At least three groups claimed in August to have programs that  
alter
the iPhone to work on networks belonging to companies such as T- 
Mobile USA
Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc. A New Jersey teenager, George Hotz,  
posted the
first guide on how to hack the phone on his Web site, a process that
includes soldering the circuitry and modifying the software.
      After Apple's update, hackers started to work on new ways to  
bypass
it, according to sites including AppleInsider.com and The Unofficial  
Apple
Weblog.
      Jobs, in London last month to announce European distributors  
for the
iPhone, said Apple has been compelled for years to counter programmers
working to gain illegal access to the internal workings of its products,
including the iPod.
      ``We try to stay a step ahead,'' Jobs, 52, said Sept. 18.
``People will try to break in and it's our job to keep them from  
breaking
in.''

--Editor: Antonelli (jma)

To contact the reporters on this story:
Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at +1-415-743-3582 or
cguglielmo1 () bloomberg net; Crayton Harrison in Dallas at  
+1-214-954-9456 or
tharrison5 () bloomberg net.


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