Wind Mobile started selling “lightly loved” iPhones on June 25th. This addition to its lineup brought Wind the promise to dramatically increase its subscriber base by offering customers low-cost, refurbished iPhones.
The wireless carrier does not list the source of its iPhone inventory, but the Globe and Mail reveals a battle has started between Apple Canada and Ingram Micro. According to the report, Apple states that Ingram has breached its contract and has requested the supplier to stop providing Wind with refurbished iPhones.
“Ingram’s interpretation of the contract was that the distribution of used iPhones was not a breach and it expressed concern about cutting off Wind’s supply of the device, but ultimately said it wanted to co-operate with Apple,” said the report.
Apparently the request for Ingram to stop providing used iPhones might have been started by Bell, who was “upset about Wind being able to access the Apple product.” According to sources, Ingram agreed to provide Wind Mobile with 50,000 used iPhones.
Wind Mobile is currently selling the 16GB iPhone 5s for $499 and the 16GB iPhone 5c $399. The wireless carrier has over 800,000 subscribers and revealed during a recent interview with MobileSyrup that it had over 25,000 iPhone customers.