The first iPhone offered for sale for $50,000 (Photo: LCG Auctions)
Just as Apple reports more than 2.2 billion active devices worldwide, the headlines in the technology sections go back to the first iPhone, the one that was launched in June 2007 and managed to make history.
The American auction house LCG Auctions has announced the auction of a model of the first iPhone (also called iPhone 2G), closed in packaging, with the original label, for which the seller will receive, according to estimates, at least 50,000 dollars (about NIS 171 thousand) - like 50 iPhone 14 new pros.
Karen Green, the owner of the device, told Insider in an interview that she received the iPhone as a gift from her friends in 2007. But there was only one problem: Green already had three phone lines with Verizon, and iPhone owners at that time could only connect to the AT&T network.
Rather than pay high disconnection fees and risk losing her phone number, Green left the phone on the shelf for years, sealed in its packaging.
The iPhone remained on the shelf for years, closed in its packaging (Photo: LCG Auctions)
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Over the years, Green has considered selling the phone several times, and in 2019 it was valued at about $5,000.
Last October another big sale was announced - a first generation iPhone closed in packaging was sold for almost 40 thousand dollars.
At that time, Green began operating her own business, a cosmetic tattoo studio called Tattician located in New Jersey.
"If I could hold back for another 10 years, I probably would," she says.
"The only reason I'm selling this phone is because I need financing for this business."
Shocked by the big sale, Green approached LCG Auctions.
"We got calls from everyone, but 99% of them didn't have what we were looking for," said LCG Auctions founder Mark Montero.
"But Karen had a really unique piece with a great story behind it."
Bidding will start at $2,500, but the iPhone in question is estimated to fetch $50,000 or more, based on the sale price at the October auction and its extensive media coverage.
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