First iPhone auctioned for $190,000+.
OAN’s Shawntel Smith-Hill
3:49 PM – Tuesday, July 18, 2023
An unopened first-generation Apple iPhone from 2007 was sold at an auction on Sunday for a record amount of $190,372, a price estimated to be more than 400 times its original retail price.
The limited production of the 4GB model at the time led the version to be considered the “Holy Grail” by iPhone collectors.
The lot, Run by LCG Auctions, estimated that the phone would be sold for roughly $50,000–$100,000, as it was considered to be “exceedingly rare,” according to the auction house.
In 2007, the phone was priced at $499 for the 4GB model.
The majority of iPhone buyers at the time chose to double the storage capacity of their phone. However, sales of the 4GB model lagged, resulting in Apple’s decision to discontinue its production in September 2007.
“Its extreme scarcity is directly related to its limited production,” said LGC Auctions in its listing, noting that the phone was unopened, in pristine condition, and still in its original packaging.
The iPhone’s starting bid was set at $10,000, however, after 28 bids, it was eventually sold for its record-breaking price.
“The phone’s provenance is pristine, as the consignor was part of the original engineering team at Apple when the iPhone first launched,” LCG Auctions wrote. “Collectors and investors would be hard pressed to find a superior example.” The first-generation Apple iPhone is not the first time that rare memorabilia connected to Steve Jobs has sold for an exorbitant price. The Apple-1, an 8-bit desktop computer released by Apple in 1976, sold last year for over $677,000. Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here.
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