Activation Lock, though it seems like a pain for second-hand iPhone users, is actually a disguise for those whose iPhones become a victim to black market sales.
iPhone thieves don’t ever try to sell an iPhone as a whole as they are aware of the Software iOS Lock and now with this hardware activation lock it should become difficult even to swap these internal parts and try to dupe second-hand customers into buying an iPhone with “original parts”.
In a way, this should benefit all - second hand iPhone customers as well as those whose iPhones are going in for repairs at third-party stores.