The Most Expensive Products of the 1990s Compared With Today

The most expensive products of the 1990s were often the ones that look most ordinary today: a flat television, a disc player, a pocket organiser, a mobile telephone that worked almost anywhere. When each one first appeared, it cost a large fraction of a year’s savings, and early buyers knew they were paying for novelty.

The Apple Newton MessagePad, one of the most expensive products of the 1990s for ordinary buyers, cost $699 in 1993. — Photo: Felix Winkelnkemper, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This guide compares five of them with what we pay for the same kind of product now. Each price comes from a named source, and where sources disagree we say so.

Fujitsu plasma television (1997): $17,500 to $20,000

IEEE Spectrum describes a 42-inch plasma television that Fujitsu introduced in 1997. Its original US list price is reported as either $17,500 or $20,000, depending on the source. Fujitsu first aimed the set at businesses for uses such as conferences and trade shows. A comparable flat television now costs a small fraction of that.

The first DVD players (1997): $599 to $750

The first DVD players went on sale in the United States in March 1997. Sound & Vision reported that the Panasonic DVD-A300 cost $750, the Toshiba SD-3006 cost $699 and the Toshiba SD-2006 cost $599. The magazine called the prices reasonable for a new technology.

Iridium satellite phone (1998): $2,000 to $3,000 and $3 a minute

In January 1997 the Christian Science Monitor reported that first-generation Iridium handsets were expected to cost $2,000 to $3,000 each, with calls priced at about $3 a minute. That was nearly ten times the cost of an average American cellular call. The network opened to customers on November 1, 1998, but the company filed for bankruptcy within about nine months. Treat the prices as the planned figures, since we were not able to confirm the final retail prices from a primary source.

Apple Newton MessagePad (1993): $699

Apple’s handheld organiser, one of the first personal digital assistants, went on sale on August 2, 1993 at $699. In today’s money that is roughly $1,627. The Apple Newton price page explains why it was both admired and mocked.

PlayStation (1995): $299

For a home entertainment product, the PlayStation was relatively cheap, yet at $299 it was about 70 hours of minimum-wage work. Today that is about $657.60. See the PlayStation price page.

How the 1990s compare with today

Each of these products fell dramatically in price once manufacturers could produce them in large numbers. The plasma television gave way to cheaper LCD and LED screens. DVD players became far cheaper within a few years, and the Newton’s role was taken over by the smartphone. A pattern repeats across the decade: the first version of a technology is expensive, and later versions are cheaper and better.

Play it yourself

Would you have paid these prices? Price Time Machine is a free daily price-guessing game built on exactly this kind of question. Guess, see what it was worth then and now, and challenge your friends.

Questions about most expensive products of the 1990s

How much did the first plasma TV cost?

Fujitsu’s 42-inch plasma television introduced in 1997 is reported at either $17,500 or $20,000, depending on the source.

How much did the first DVD player cost?

The first DVD players in the United States cost between $599 and $750 in March 1997.

How much did an Iridium satellite phone cost?

Handsets were expected to cost $2,000 to $3,000, with calls at about $3 a minute, according to a January 1997 report.

What was the most expensive product of the 1990s?

It depends on the category, but the plasma television and satellite phone were among the most expensive consumer gadgets of the decade.