Basically the thief should be keep guessing and should not know which software solution is denying access.

This way he cannot search for the loopholes of say wave secure (guessed otherwise from lock screen) on internet and actually bypass ALL security checks. (No network/flash ROM/empty sim).

Of course maybe the phone is already useless for him, but by this the probability of him making mistake and WaveSecure getting Track of the phone Increases
And maybe user can also get his phone back.