Math on iPhones Just Doesn't Add Up?

Tech Dirt is reporting that recently announced numbers by Apple and AT&T suggest that there is a large gap (1.7 million) between the number of iPhones being sold and those being activated. Taking into account factors like the iPhone launching outside the US and a 20% estimate of people buying the iPhone just for the purposes of unlocking, there are still 700,000 iPhones unaccounted for. "[...] suggesting that they're sitting on store shelves, piling up as unsold inventory. That number suggests at least some gap between perceived demand and actual demand -- while also raising questions about how much effort it will take to eat through that inventory."

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[That's Unpossible!]

The pundits math doesn't line up. What's the reason? They don't know what the fuck they are talking about.

For example: "20% estimate of people buying the iPhone just for the purposes of unlocking, there are still 700,000 iPhones unaccounted for."

OK, so then I guess maybe the 20% estimate is wrong? Horrors.

What I do know for certain is that this discussion won't solve something that only Apple can answer.