A rare factory-sealed and never-activated original iPhone sold at auction for almost $40,000, giving the seller a tidy profit of $38,740. Apple's iPhone 14 and 14 Pro recently launched with a price tag of over $1,000 but back in 2007, the original iPhone retailed for only $600 (or around $860 with inflation). Yearly iterations and improvements have reduced the market for used iPhones to the point that they are worth not much more than the price of their materials.
The original 2007 iPhone was a risky gamble for Apple during the era of flip phones. Smartphones were not a common sight in 2007 and the thought of attaching console controllers to play streaming games on a mobile device was pure science fiction. With only 4 gigabytes of storage and a handful of preloaded apps the original version iPhone is a relic of a bygone era in technology. Back when the iPhone first came to market the touchscreen was a leap forward in phone technology as no product at the time could match its ease of use.
Given the technological leaps that have taken place in the 15 years since the original iPhone was released, a recent auction ended with a shocking result. A factory-sealed iPhone from 2007 with no aftermarket stickers or UPCs just sold for $39,339.60. While a recent survey found Americans willing to go into debt for a new iPhone a price of nearly $40k for an iPhone is absurd.
According to LCG Auctions, the relevance and rarity of a factory-sealed first generation iPhone contributed to the astronomical price. Prior to the last few days before closing bidding had stalled around $10,000. Apple products tend to sell for a premium, the infamous $19 Macbook cleaning cloth being an extreme example, but an iPhone with a 2-megapixel camera and no WiFi capabilities selling for the price of a car is again, absurd. Prior auctions of sealed first generation iPhones closed around $30k.
With the inevitable forward progress of technology and the huge leaps made in consumer electronics over the past 15 years, the collectibles market of the future will be filled with similar oddities. How much could a new Apple Watch resell for in another 15 years? For that matter, it's been 7 years since the original Apple Watch went on sale so how long until sealed versions are available for auction?
The iPhone 14 and 14 Pro are now available.
Source: LCG Auctions