Riding the crest of the wave of nostalgia and fueled by the burgeoning market of collectors, an unopened first-generation iPhone has just fetched a jaw-dropping $190,372.80 at an auction.
The sale price is staggering, as it's approximately 300 times its original retail price from 16 years ago. It's a tangible symbol of how far we've come in just over a decade and a half - from a device that reinvented communication to a pricey artifact harking back to the dawn of our modern digital age.
At LCG Auctions, this factory-sealed 4GB iPhone, one of Apple's inaugural offerings from 2007, was hailed the "Holy Grail" of the iPhone lineup. It's easy to see why when we delve into its backstory. The 4GB model was discontinued few months after its debut, overshadowed by its 8GB sibling that offered double the storage capacity for just an additional $100. This made the 4GB variant rare, turning it into a coveted piece for collectors and amplifying its value.
This wasn't an ordinary iPhone, though. It was owned by a member of the original engineering team at Apple at the time of the iPhone's launch. Whether the previous owner received it as part of their participation in the development team or they bought it off the shelf like everyone else, its association with one of the key players in the phone's creation adds an irresistible allure to its narrative.
