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'Steve Jobs hype is over': Rare Apple 1 fetches only $130,000 at auction

A German engineer has nabbed a scarce working Apple 1 for an absolute steal.
Written by Liam Tung, Contributing Writer
applei.jpg

The Apple 1 computer dates back to the 1970s.

Image: Auction Team Breker

A functioning Apple 1 has sold at auction in Germany for €110,000 ($130,000), or less than half the top bid it was expected to receive.

The 40-year-old Apple 1 computer had been pitched to sell for between €180,000 and €300 000 ($146,000-$337,000), in line with selling prices for other rare models auctioned since the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011.

The fully functional model was sold this weekend by Auction Team Breker in Cologne, Germany. Team Breker published a video in March showing the Apple 1 in action.

Video: The Apple 1 was sold by German auction house Breker, which had sold another example in 2013 for €516,000 ($580,000).

Source: Auction Team Breker

It's one of just eight working models left in the world and had been in the possession of Californian software engineer John J Dryden since he bought it in 1976.

The German engineer who now owns it got it for a fraction of the price other Apple 1 models have sold in the past five years. One sold for $905,000 at a Bonhams auction in New York in 2014, while a prototype Apple 1 sold for $815,000 last year.

Team Breker auctioneer Uwe Breker said the lower than expected price suggested the hype over Apple memorabilia since Jobs' death was now over. Breker sold one at a 2013 auction for €516,000 ($580,000).

"From our point of view we're back at normal levels. Five years after the death of [Apple co-founder] Steve Jobs, the hype has settled back," Breker told AFP.

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