Doesn't seem to work does it?
The number of phones still being stolen as a direct target - rather than for another reason like depriving someone of comms after a robbery - suggests these measures aren't much of a deterrent.
For one thing even if the latest shiny gadget has been properly killed as a phone (which may or may not really work) it is still worth a lot of money as parts. Just stripping for screens and cases is more than enough profit, and probably better income and much lower risk than shifting the whole phone.
It's not difficult to overcome this too but I suspect people would prefer to keep some tiny degree of repairability.
(Icon for the best deterrent)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
