How much would an iPhone have cost in 1991

A few weeks ago, we posted about an iPhone doing everything in a 1991 Radio Shack ad.

Follow the headline link for a follow up, “How much would it have cost to have built an iPhone in 1991?”

In 1991, a gigabyte of hard disk storage cost around $10,000, perhaps a touch less. (Today, it costs around four cents ($0.04).) Back in 1991, a gigabyte of flash memory, which is what the iPhone uses, would have cost something like $45,000, or more. (Today, it’s around 55 cents ($0.55).)

The mid-level iPhone 5S has 32 GB of flash memory. Thirty-two GB, multiplied by $45,000, equals $1.44 million.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Fascinating analysis.