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Apple ups iPhone purchase limit to five

After limiting the number of iPhone purchases to two for over a month, the company is now letting people buy up to five of the gadgets per transaction.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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After putting a two-unit limit on purchases of the iPhone back in October, the company has quietly raised the limit back to five.

If you've got a family of three, you can now get everyone an iPhone in one transaction. CNET Networks

iPhone Atlas spotted the move on Friday, and Wired also confirmed on Monday that Apple is still not taking cash for the iPhone. At the time the limit was announced, Apple said it wanted to ensure there would be enough supply in hand for the holiday shopping season, which is well under way.

So, either they've ramped up production, which would make sense following the European launches, or demand has waned. I don't see anything that indicates that interest in the iPhone has fallen off, especially at the $399 price, but we'll know for sure in January following either Macworld or Apple's earning announcement.

Apple is apparently still worried about the resale market, however, since it's sticking with its policy of only accepting credit cards for iPhone purchases. That was the reason given for the decision to stop accepting cash: that the company wanted to discourage unlocking and unauthorized resales of the iPhone. It will be interesting to see how long Apple sticks with that policy as more and more iPhones enter the world.