Apple 8GB iPhone components 'cost $220'

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.