Unopened First-Generation iPhone Sells For More Than S$84K At Auction
The latest Apple gadgets have always been the craze among tech lovers.
With products such as the iPhone 14 on the market, older models have, unfortunately, been left behind in the dust.
However, it seems that demand for such items still exists among consumers.
Recently, an unopened first-generation iPhone sold for more than S$84,000 during an auction.
Unopened first-generation iPhone auctioned off for over S$84,000
USA Today reports that LCG Auctions started the auction for the phone on 2 Feb.
While the expected selling price was US$50,000 (~S$67,000), the amount it sold for eventually exceeded it by a fairly large amount.
The bidding for the phone began at US$2,500 (~S$3,300), and after 27 bids, it sold for US$63,356.40 (~S$85,000) on Sunday (19 Feb).
This is around 100 times its original price.
Original owner left it unopened
Karen Green was the original owner of the phone and received it back in 2007 as a gift from her friends after getting a management position at PetSmart, Business Insider reports.
This was the same year the first iPhone came out.
However, she’d already had three phone lines with Verizon and iPhones only use AT&T. She thus decided to leave the unopened phone on her shelf to avoid an expensive termination fee.
“I didn’t want to get rid of my phone, and I figured, ‘It’s an iPhone, so it will never go out of date’,” she said. Her friends may have purchased it for US$499 (~S$670) to US$599 (~S$930).
In 2019, Green had the phone appraised after hearing of another original, unopened iPhone going for US$10,000 (~S$13,400) on eBay.
As it was an 8GB phone and was still within its packaging, the estimated worth was around US$5,000 (~S$6,700).
First introduced in trade show
According to CBS News, Steve Jobs introduced the first-generation iPhone on 9 Jan 2007, at MacWorld, a trade show in San Francisco.
Source: Wired
It was available on the market five months later, with its sleek design and innovative features causing it to be a hit among gadget enthusiasts.
This apparently isn’t the first time first-generation iPhones have appeared during auctions, either.
One went for S$47,454.94 (US$35,414) in August and another for S$52,714.46 (US$39,339) in October last year, both through LCG Auctions.
Such reports aren’t all that surprising either when considering Apple’s loyal fan base.
In 2022, an interested buyer purchased an Apple computer prototype from the 1970s for more than S$907,183.38 (US$677,000).
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Featured image adapted from History and LCG Auctions.
