If true, it means that China has almost, if not more, iPhones as Europe - though Europe (present company included) probably has a huge amount of unlocked iPhones as well. Frankly, we don't think unlocking is a problem as there is no alternative way to purchase in China.
However, if the market is already saturated when Apple goes into China this year, it might hurt sales. Our opinion, as always is that Apple needs to go away from the model of limiting the carrier choice and letting as many people as possible use these iPhones.