If you’re looking to pick up an unlocked 16 GB iPhone 5C, you’re going to be waiting a little while.
That’s the first model of Apple’s new colorful iPhone to sell out of its launch day preorders, according to Apple’s online store. The carrier-constrained models (including T-Mobile’s, which comes unlocked with a T-Mobile SIM pre-installed) have not yet sold out in any configuration.
It’s unclear yet whether the status of those unlocked phones is based on low supply, high demand or both. It’s fairly easy to re-sell an unlocked phone on Ebay, and in the past, such phones have fetched a premium in the weeks following a launch.
For its part, Apple has worked to constrain the secondary market for iOS products, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re constraining the supply of unlocked phones in order to put a crimp on the earning capabilities of enterprising resellers.
