Market for Original iPhones Looks Robust

11:37 am, June 24th, 2008, Lonnie Lazar

Photo by Rinox via flickr

Apple has long been a poster child for the wisdom of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand. With active trade in some of its discontinued products, such as the iSight camera (which regularly sells on auction sites such as eBay for more than the original purchase price), and high-resale values for “previously owned” and “refurbished” models of its computers, the reality has been that the cost of owning an Apple over the years has not been nearly so high as its reputation for premium pricing might indicate.

The iPhone is providing additional confirmation that, despite complaints about the company’s obsessive desire to control the user experience, they must be doing something right at 1 Infinite Loop.

iPhone Atlas reported recently on the high prices still being fetched at resale by the original model phones, indicating concern over the ability to unlock and/or jailbreak the upcoming model, combined with significant demand in countries where the iPhone 3G will not initially be on sale, including Russia and China.

While the current value of first-generation iPhones may be high, with reports of the bid on 16GB phones near $600, some believe the market for the phones will stay active with prices coming down as the availability of 3G models gets closer. Michael Johnston at iPhone Alley suggests the window for high prices may be closing soon and Dennis Sellers writes for Macsimum News that active trade in the post-3G launch market for first-gen iPhones could see prices come down under $100.

With Apple and AT&T seeming to have foiled the unlocking/jailbreaking movement that flourished in the wake of iPhone’s initial release, Stateside customers who must have the speed and features of the 3G model but still have, or want, service with a carrier other than AT&T, will either have to wait and see if the new models can be jailboken or look to Apple’s deals with a different carrier in almost every country overseas, where the phones will go on sale next month. Across both ponds Apple has had to agree to a wide range of prices and options for selling the iPhone 3G, making it likely that in quite a few countries outside of the U.S., you’ll be able to buy an iPhone without a contractual agreement.

Posted by Lonnie Lazar in Hardware, Vintage Tech, iPhone | Comment on this article