A Korean carrier to now sell vintage iPhone 3GS at $40

The Apple iPhone 3GS is shown at the company's retail store in San Francisco, California in this June 19, 2009 file photo. Heavy subsidises telecoms operators around the world use to attract consumers to monthly subscriptions of Apple's iPhone hurt their shareholder value, a research report showed on August 17, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/Files (UNITED STATES BUSINESS SCI TECH) - GM1E58H1KFO01

Moneycontrol News

Now it is possible to buy a brand new iPhone 3GS, nine years after it hit the market, from a Korean Carrier company named SK Telink. Retro iPhone lovers are in for a happy surprise with this news as iPhone 3GS was the first iPhone with usable cellular connectivity at just USD 40 per unit.

As per a report by PhoneArena, SK Telink is a subsidiary of the largest carrier south of the DMZ. Their team decided to bring in a new idea that can generate wide-scale publicity and guaranteed sales for the company. And what better than banking on the popularity of iPhone and the current trend of buying retro products. They decided to make use of a bunch of iPhone 3GS lying in the warehouse for the past nine years. They are going to repackage these iPhones in premium boxes and sell them at the prepaid crowd for an equivalent of USD 40.

As per a SK Telink spokesperson, "The iPhone 3GS has been launched to celebrate the opening of the SK Seven mobile online mall, while expanding the selection of consumer smartphones." According to the SK Telink official, the iPhone they are selling is a 'repackaging phone' and has a different concept from regularly used phones.

It is to be noted that these are not second-hand iPhones, and are brand new with their original box content including the charger and earbuds. iPhone fans will be hoping these iPhones will be tested and come with refurbished batteries.

Though the customers of these iPhone 3GSs will have to do without any advanced messaging app. However, the phone can still be used for talking/texting and music playback. One disadvantage for the customers will be that some device parts have been discontinued by the source company now. But, it is highly expected of this old iPhone model to be sold out in a jiffy, considering the retro craze that is sweeping the globe these days.