Original iPhone from 2007 sells for $190,000

Last Sunday a 16-year-old iPhone has found a new owner via an online auction. It was sold for $190,372.80 and is still shrink-wrapped in its original packaging. To be more precise this model had 4 gigabytes of storage which is the important factor that lead to this high price as we will discuss later.

The extremely rare first model was launched on June 29, 2007 - along with the 8 GB model. At the time of release Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, had introduced this phone with the words "We're going to reinvent the phone." which in retrospect they certainly did. In 2007 people seemed to also think similar since it took just 74 days to sell the first one million units for $499 per iPhone.

However, what is so special about this phone in particular, is the fact that the four gigabyte model was discontinued on September 5, 2007, just two months later. The reason was the fact that most people chose to buy the more expensive 8 gigabyte model for $100 dollars more. Furthermore Apple decided to reduce the price of the 8 GB version to $399.

Before the sale the intended price was estimated to end up between $50,000 and $100,000 but shortly after bidding began, it was clear that the cost to own this piece of history would quickly surpass that. The first model of the iPhone is considered almost a "Holy Grail" amongst collectors, since its limited production makes it extremely rare and few sales happen. According to the auction house "LCG Auctions" where this took place, the auctioned example was originally owned by a man who was a part of the original engineering team at Apple when the iPhone originally launched. According to the auction house's website, collectors will be unlikely to find a better preserved iPhone of this specific model since it is still in its original factory-sealed and non-damaged condition.

Link to the completed Auction: LCG Auctions