As we have all seen by now, the iPhone 3G has not been an easy nut to crack, in fact a software unlock is still not available. Of course that has not stopped some more enterprising individuals from not only performing, but also offering a hardware unlocked iPhone 3G for sale. Well, that is in Vietnam anyway. Tuan Anh Do currently owns five cell phone repair shops in Vietnam, of which a “big part of his business is servicing the iPhone and iPhone 3G.”
The unlocking process is said to take just about one hour for each phone. The going rate is currently 1.2 million dong (about $80 US), which is not all that cheap considering the average salary is around $100 per month. In addition to hardware unlocking the iPhone, the device is also jailbroken (at no additional charge) at the same time, and is even loaded with some useful applications and utilities.
Unfortunately, the hardware unlock is still subject to being relocked due to firmware updates, however once the iPhone has been unlocked the first time, any additional unlocks come at a discounted rate of $50. While the unlocking process seems to cost quite a bit of money as compared to the average salary, it seems pretty low compared to the $800 to $1000 that many are willing to pay for the iPhone 3G itself.
Thankfully, the workers performing the hard work are compensated, it was mentioned that there are about 30 employees, and each are making $300 per month. It was not mentioned, but it would be interesting to see just how many customers come in each month for have their iPhone unlocked.
[Crave]
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