Apple Inc. is charging $199 and $399 for its new smartphone, the iPhone 4S. One question is asked by users: how much does it cost to make one?
According to IHS iSuppli, a 16 GB iPhone 4S costs $188 to make, and will jump to $196 if you throw in the manufacturing costs. Adding higher storage capacities does not really increase the cost, as a 32 GB iPhone 4S model costs $207 to make, while a 64 GB model costs $245.
While the iPhone 4S looks very similar to its predecessor, the iPhone 4, IHS iSuppli found a “wealth of innovation” inside the latest smartphone offering from Apple.
“Key among these changes is a custom part from Avago that helps give the iPhone 4S its unique capability to be used in multiple wireless systems globally, while still keeping costs down,” said IHS iSuppli’s senior director of teardown services, Andrew Rassweiler, in a statement. “In another surprise development, the 4S employs a Hynix NAND flash memory device. While IHS has already confirmed multiple suppliers for this part, it does mark the first time that IHS has identified a Hynix NAND flash in an iPhone, as opposed to devices from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. or Toshiba Corp. seen in all previous iPhone and iPad teardowns.”
One of the most notable upgrades in the new smartphone is its camera, which bumped to 8-megapixels from its predecessor’s 5. Chipworks opened the camera module and found a CMOS image sensor from Sony inside it. However, the whole camera module is not made by Sony.
Selling more devices while keeping costs low has helped Apple to gain huge profits ever since. Earlier this week, the Cupertino tech giant said that it had generated a $6.62 billion profit during its fiscal fourth quarter. The company sold 17 million iPhones during the three month period.
via: Eweek
