Some analysts have looked at Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone sales figures (3.75 million) and AT&Ts activation figures (bit less than 2 million) and rather than conclude there’s almost a million iPhones clogging up the distribution channel the “analysts suggested that there are organized groups of gray market dealers who are buying up iPhones, unlocking them, and reselling them, largely overseas” reports NYT. Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray sent spies to some Apple stores and found that about 40 percent of iPhones were sold to people who bought more than one at once: “The majority of the people who were buying more than one phone were Asian, and they were bringing small buses of people who all buy more than one phone,” he said. Mr. Munster conjectured that many of the phones are being resold into Asia. It is hard to get an iPhone there and, he said, “With the value of the dollar, the cost of the phone is much less here.” He estimates that of the 1.7 million phones not activated by AT&T (NYSE: T) 350,000 were sold in Europe, 512,000 were in inventory and the rest—838,000 were sold and unlocked.

It’s not often that the specific sales figures of a phone garner as much attention as those of the iPhone have done. There’s a couple of probable reasons why this is the case… First, Apple has put a lot of effort into marketing the iPhone not only as a great handset but as a great profit booster—so sale levels are very important in determining whether that claim is valid, far more for Apple than other manufacturers because it currently has all its eggs in one basket. Plus, Apple gets an on-going revenue stream from phones which are activated on the networks of its carrier partners, so the number of “unlocked” iPhones is also important in determining how good a business it is. One analyst has estimated that if 30 percent of iPhone sales were unlocked Apple’s “revenue and profit would be $500 million and 37 cents per share lower than expected”, reports Reuters. Also, people still remember what happened to Motorola (NYSE: MOT) when it was revealed that sales of its “hit phone” the Razr were far lower than those shipped, causing a backlog that severly damaged the companies fortunes—no-one wants that to happen to Apple.