Why would Apple want to relock the iPhone?

I was just wondering if anybody had any opinions as to why Apple would want to relock the iphone through updates? The only company it effects is AT & T. If I'm Apple, I am not going to relock because I sell more phones by keeping it unlocked. It doesn't make sense to me from a business stance.

It makes perfect sense in the business sense if you've made an exclusive deal with AT&T. Why would Apple want to screw over their business partners?

It's not that Apple is intentionally going out of its way to re-lock the phone. It's just that they're not worried whether firmware updates end up re-locking it as a consequence.

Apple doesn't really mind all the hacking and unlocking. The company has said that it won't actively disable the means for doing so. But it won't try to accommodate these hacks in its firmware updates. So if Apple wants to implement a bug fix or add a new feature, it's going to do it the way it wants to without regard for the consequences that hackers will experience.

Also the fact that they make money from the AT&T plan. Apple makes money on the device (not as much anymore) but they also make money on the service. It makes sense for them to want to keep as many iPhones on AT&T as possible.

Original Nerd said:

Also the fact that they make money from the AT&T plan. Apple makes money on the device (not as much anymore) but they also make money on the service. It makes sense for them to want to keep as many iPhones on AT&T as possible.

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I wonder if the money they make off the service is more than the money they would make from more sold phones.

Kash said:

It's not that Apple is intentionally going out of its way to re-lock the phone. It's just that they're not worried whether firmware updates end up re-locking it as a consequence.

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From what I read, that comment from Apple was directed at third party apps, not unlocking the phone for other services. They're 2 different things.

Whether or not Apple makes more or less money doesn't matter if they are bound by their contract with AT&T to do whatever it takes to prevent the phone from being unlocked. Everyone knows about phone unlocking and if AT&T wants to maximize profit from their exclusivity contract, it's only common sense that they would put some obligations for Apple to take steps toward keeping the iPhone on AT&T only for the US.

If such obligation exists, and I'm sure it does, and there's any hint that Apple isn't holding up their end, AT&T could file suit or impose some kind of penalty on Apple.

In order for Apple to make the phone not work SIM free, they would have to make updates to the baseband. However, it supposedly should be possible to get around this anyway, by preventing updates to the baseband.

I think apple gets a % of At&T contract on the iphone.

It's not jut A&T benefiting.. Apple gets money selling the phone and for using it on AT&T

business is business, i'm sure apple knew full well it would be unlocked and in the end, everyone benefits.. AT&T needed a device like the iphone and Apple is making profit selling the iphone from AT&T and direct from them (unlocking software just opened up import mania)

It may be worth it, however, for Apple to break the contract with AT&T even if taking a slight loss to join up with Verizon which can gain them another million or two customers which will cover the expense of the contract break i'm sure. Now Apple can have 3-4 million iPhones sold and grow more rapidly i'm sure.

Shannonb said:

I was just wondering if anybody had any opinions as to why Apple would want to relock the iphone through updates? The only company it effects is AT & T. If I'm Apple, I am not going to relock because I sell more phones by keeping it unlocked. It doesn't make sense to me from a business stance.

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Money...always about money...

I would guess the 20% they get for each base AT&Tcontract could be a factor...

unplugged said:

It may be worth it, however, for Apple to break the contract with AT&T even if taking a slight loss to join up with Verizon which can gain them another million or two customers which will cover the expense of the contract break i'm sure. Now Apple can have 3-4 million iPhones sold and grow more rapidly i'm sure.

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Many people don't seem to remember that Apple went to Verizon with the iPhone first... Verizon turned them down.

Verizon Wireless Vice President Jim Gerace said:

According to Verizon, Apple CEO Steve Jobs insisted that he have hard control over iPhone distribution.

The problem? While Apple and Verizon stores would have it, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and other Verizon distributors could have been left out. "That would have put our own distribution partners at a disadvantage" to Apple and Verizon stores, Gerace said.

Customer care was another hitch: If an iPhone went haywire, Apple wanted sole discretion over whether to replace or repair the phone. "They would have been stepping in between us and our customers to the point where we would have almost had to take a back seat … on hardware and service support

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Source

In short, Verizon wanted to have complete control over the phone's distribution and workings... and Jobs wouldn't let them. So they passed on it. I seriously doubt that they would be willing to renegotiate things now.

D3v1L80Y said:

Many people don't seem to remember that Apple went to Verizon with the iPhone first... Verizon turned them down

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Yea, I love how people forget that little tidbit when complaining about why the iPhone isn't available on Verizon ;P