Unopened '1st Generation iPhone' Up for Auction... Expected Winning Bid $50,000?

Last Year, the Same Product Sold for 47 Million KRW
Release Price 730,000 KRW... Expected to Fetch Over 60 Million KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyun-jung] An unopened first-generation iPhone, originally sold for $599 (about 730,000 KRW) in 2007, has been put up for auction, with the expected winning bid estimated to reach $50,000 (about 60 million KRW).

According to foreign media reports including CNN in the U.S. and The Guardian in the U.K. on the 2nd (local time), auction company LCG Auction started the auction for this iPhone on the same day. This iPhone was kept by a tattoo artist named Karen Green since 2007. At that time, Green received the iPhone as a gift but was already using another phone, so she never even opened the plastic packaging and wrapped it in pajamas, keeping it in a drawer for nearly 16 years.

The first-generation iPhone released in 2007 featured in the LCG auction.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The first-generation iPhone, the world’s first smartphone, was personally introduced by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in January 2007. It featured a 3.5-inch (about 9 cm) screen and came with two built-in memory options: 4GB and 8GB. It also had a 2-megapixel camera and included internet and iTunes functions.

Green contacted the auction company after seeing another unopened first-generation iPhone sell for $39,000 (about 47 million KRW) at LCG Auction last October. The minimum bid for her iPhone is set at $2,500 (about 3.07 million KRW), but foreign media expect the final winning bid to exceed $50,000 (about 60 million KRW). Green’s iPhone is the 8GB high-capacity model and is in perfect unopened condition. The auction will run until the 19th.

In January 2007, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, introduced the first-generation iPhone.
[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

Mark Montero, founder of LCG Auction, said, "We have received many inquiries about selling older generation iPhones, but most of the items brought in did not work properly," and introduced Green’s collection as "a special product with an interesting story."

It is known that Green put the iPhone up for auction to raise funds for a new tattoo studio business. He expressed regret, saying, "If I had the luxury to keep this iPhone for about 10 more years, I would have done so," and added, "The only reason I am selling this product is because I need to support my business."