Sealed iPhone fetches ₹52L at auction - highest price paid for original phone - Hindustan Times
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Sealed iPhone fetches 52L at auction - highest price paid for an original phone

By | Edited by Aniruddha Dhar
Feb 21, 2023 07:33 AM IST

Sold for $52,797, the record-breaking sale at LCG Auctions included a buyer's premium fee of 20 per cent.

A first-generation iPhone, sealed in its original box from 2007, fetched $63,356 (approx 52,00,000) at a premier auction house in the US on Sunday. It is the highest-ever price paid for an original iPhone.

According to the LCG Auctions website, Steve Jobs debuted the iPhone 16 years ago at a Macworld conference. (LCG auctions)
According to the LCG Auctions website, Steve Jobs debuted the iPhone 16 years ago at a Macworld conference. (LCG auctions)

Sold for $52,797, the record-breaking sale at LCG Auctions included a buyer's premium fee of 20 per cent which brought the total to over $60,000. According to a Business Insider report, the costly iPhone was gifted to a cosmetic tattoo artist in New Jersey, Karen Green, after she landed a new job. It remained unboxed as Karen was tied to a Verizon phone line (an American multinational telecommunications holding company) while the original iPhone was only compatible with AT&T.

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Although Green had pondered over selling the iPhone in the past years as she needed the money for her studio, she decided to hold on to it after hearing about another first-generation iPhone from 2007 that was sold for nearly $40,000. She got in touch with LCG Auctions in October and the phone was put up for auction from February 2 till February 19. Expected to be sold for at least $50,000, bidding started at $2,500, but it ended up going for more than 100 times its original price.

According to the LCG Auctions website, Steve Jobs debuted the iPhone 16 years ago in January at a Macworld conference in San Francisco. Apple sold the first-generation iPhone for $599 (approx. 47,920 today). The gadget was initially available with 4GB or 8GB of storage, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 3.5-inch screen.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man in Karnataka’s Hassan district allegedly killed a delivery executive because he couldn’t pay for an iPhone he had ordered when it was delivered by the victim on February 7, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Hemanth Dutt, is a resident of Arasikere town in the southern Karnataka district.

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