The Apple iPhone has always raised passions. The fever for the device that ushered in the era of smartphones reaches such a point that a buyer has paid $190,372 at auction for a device from 2007. Three hundred times its original sale price. It went on sale for $599, according to auctioneer LCG Auctions. At that time, many predicted that at such a high price it would be impossible for this product to be introduced in the market. Nothing is further from reality.
This 4 GB model caught the attention of 28 buyers, who began bidding with a starting offer of $10,000. the auction reached close to two hundred thousand, a figure never seen in a first-generation iPhone, the company emphasizes.
There aren't many first-generation iPhones left with 4GB. Apple withdrew it shortly after its release due to the delay in total sales and the release of a model with a higher capacity (8 GB).
The device, with a 2-megapixel camera, state-of-the-art screen and web browser, is in "exceptional condition." In fact, it is brand new and still has the plastic that wraps the box. And LCG Auctions says it's rare to find a first-generation iPhone without screen damage or broken buttons.
Those features make this device the "holy grail" among iPhone collectors due to its extreme scarcity. LCG Auctions describes it as a "high-end popular collector's item" and "extremely rare".
As reported by the American auction house, the device was owned by a member of Apple's original engineering team when the iPhone was first released on January 9, 2007.
LCG Auctions has subscribed to the sale of collectible iPhone. In October of last year, he sold another first-generation Apple phone for $39,339. In February, one for $63,356. Another firm, Wright Auctions, also sold a first-generation iPhone for $40,320 in March.
The company is not surprised by the interest in these devices. They remember that, since its launch, the iPhone quickly became Apple's most successful product, changed the smartphone industry forever and was named Invention of the Year by the prestigious Time magazine in 2007.
