Boxed first generation iPhone from 2007 fetches over $63,000 at auction!
A first generation Apple iPhone that has never been unboxed has been auctioned off for more than $63,000.
The smartphone was first launched in 2007 and now 16 years later an unopened edition of the model owned by tattoo artist Karen Green has been sold by LCG auction house for a whopping $63,356 after receiving 27 bids from a starting price of $2,500.
A description for the item on the website of auction house LCG Auctions read: "Highly desirable factory sealed first generation original Apple iPhone from 2007. One of the most important and ubiquitous inventions of our lifetime, the iPhone was first introduced by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007 at MacWorld San Francisco. Just over five months later it was released at retail for $499/$599 on June 29th."
Specifications for the tech item include 8GB of storage, a two-megapixel camera, and a physical home button, a stark difference from the 1TB of storage, 48-megapixel camera, and no physical home button available on the iPhone 14 today, which retails at a starting price of $799 depending on screen size and memory capacity.
Karen took the vintage smartphone onto Doctor and the Diva's 'Treasure Hunt Tuesday' TV show in 2019 where it was estimated to be worth $5,000 and was said to be "overwhelmed" at the final selling price, with the auction house claiming that the "cultural interest" in old tech items is on the increase and believes that sales could grow even further.
LCG said: "There's little doubt that interest in culturally relevant collectibles is rapidly increasing, and despite the impressive sales numbers, many believe the space is still in its infancy."
Karen now intends to use the money to help with the costs of running her new cosmetic tattoo studio in New Jersey.
The Apple iPhone was first introduced by the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007 at MacWorld San Francisco.
At the time, he said: "We're going to make some history together today."
The phone - which was named Time Magazine's invention of the year in 2007 - became Apple's most successful product, selling over 6.1 million units worldwide.
