Apple 8GB iPhone components 'cost $220'
Does the remaining $400 cover software development etc?
Apple's 4GB iPhone costs $200 in components to make. The 8GB model's parts total just $20 more. So claims US market watcher and device stripper-down Portelligent.
Of course, Portelligent's numbers - relayed by BusinessWeek - only cover the parts, not the cost off putting them together, shipping the finished product, marketing and, crucially, the cost of the software that makes the iPhone sing.
But it shows Apple is in a good position to make money on the device. Whether you accept the more conservative sales estimates or the most bullish figures, there's no doubt Apple has sold a fair few iPhones since the device went on sale almost a week ago.
Clearly, the high price of the handset is not putting buyers off to the extent that some observers anticipated it would.
Portelligent's analysis follows its own disassembly of Apple's device, just one of many that surfaced in the days following the iPhone's debut.
According to the breakdown, the iPhone's touchscreen, said to be made by Germany's Banda, is the most expensive component, coming in at approximately $60 a pop.
While the handset is understood to be powered by a Samsung-made ARM chip, a peek a the firmware apparantly reveals the CPU to contain an integrated PowerVR MBX graphics chip. Samsung licensed the MBX design from developer Imagination Technologies a few years back.
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china
If they make everything in china, does it not break easily? Must hold in heat something terrible too - wonder how they get around that? But I guess that's innovation for ya.
Design, design, design.
I know Apple has an annoying reputation to many. What Jobs has done is move Apple out of the commodity consumer electronics business. Traditional silicon heads prefer living in a tree house with a "No Girls Allowed" sign firmly nailed to the trunk. They haven't been happy since DOS last kept the digital peasants at bay.
Exactly how much is the leather worth in a pair of Italian loafers? What are the materials worth in a Turner? What is the value of the clay used in Wallace and Gromit?
re: profit?
Profit???
Everything is made in china with Apple...I doubt apple is giving them a "nice" cut.
Don't be stupid, there are tens of companies involved
... and each one makes some profit for the parts and assemblies they provide up the chain.
Apple gets the largest share, but also has done by far the most work and innovation.
Re New toys are alwasy expensive
Yeah. but tuppence could get you a night out and a new suit in them days.
