One fact not mentioned yet here in the comments is that a very similar approach already exists in the United States: If you don't pay off your phone your IMEI i

One fact not mentioned yet here in the comments is that a very similar approach already exists in the United States: If you don't pay off your phone your IMEI is blacklisted and (as far as I know) those blacklists are shared between the major providers in the United States. Therefore the device lock discussed here won't make a large difference in the United States. The primary use-cases are probably: * If used in the United States prevent fraud where someone uses a stolen identity to obtain a phone and then sells it in another market (that doesn't use IMEI blacklists) once it arrives. * If used in other countries that don't have IMEI blacklists to provide a similar functionality as those blacklists. One benefit of that is that it could reduce the credit requirements and make it easier for people with no or a poor credit to obtain a phone.