After a German court dismissed a Vodafone injunction against locked iPhones, it did not take long for T-Mobile to announce that it would stop selling unlocked iPhones. “We are just happy that our opinion is confirmed that this is legal,” said T-Mobile spokesperson Klaus Czerwinski on Tuesday. “We still think it is best for the customer.”
In late November, Vodafone filed the injunction, calling the T-Mobile exclusive uncompetitive and forcing T-Mobile to start selling unlocked iPhones (ie, with an unlocked SIM card and no T-Mobile contract). T-Mobile complied although the unlocked models were priced at €999, substantially more than the €499 it charges for the locked version with a two-year contract.
T-Mobile refused to disclose how many unlocked iPhones it had sold in the two weeks that they had been available but it appears that they sold more than they had expected, despite the high price.
For those still looking to get their hands on a legally unlocked iPhones, they remain on sale in France.