The parts for the iPhone 5 only cost Apple $167.50, according to new estimates. The estimate makes puts the iPhone 5 parts price tag about $36 more than iPhone 4S parts were.
UBM Techinsights released their estimates on how much each iPhone 5 part costs this morning and as usual, it’s shockingly cheap. The $36 cost difference between the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S is attributed to the larger Retina screen, 4G LTE chip, new A6 chip, and the new sensors and mics.
Here’s a chart with the full price breakdown of each component:
Keep in mind that even though the parts for the iPhone 5 only cost $167.50, the actual cost Apple has invested into each iPhone 5 is much higher because the price of parts does not reflect all the manufacturing, assembly, R&D, tooling, shipping, marketing, design, and a million of other costs that go into making the iPhone 5.
Source: UBM Techinsights
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
18 responses to “The iPhone 5 Only Costs Apple $168 For The Parts”
Other OEMs pay more for some of their devices. It’s not a testament as much to Apple’s overpricing as it is their supply chain prowess. Buying in bulk has its advantages :)
THEN WHY IS THE UNLOCKED PHONE $699 IN CANADA!!!!! That’s what I have to she’ll out on the 21st. It’s brutal. Had to sell my cinema display just to afford it.
That means, technically, Apple pay £103 for a device they charge £525 for. That’s more 5x the cost…
Take some economics classes or some MBA courses.
Apple products are expensive, but they are not drastically overpriced. R&D, overhead, labor, and the cost of parts are just some of the components used for pricing goods. Likewise, if Apple did not make a significant enough profit, they would not be able to remain in business or bring to market the high quality goods that they offer.
With JUST an iPhone, Apple still makes more money than Microsoft for ALL OF ITS PRODUCTS COMBINED!
Lol. not even close. apple has money. microsoft can buy the world using it’s money.
Uhm… how much did it cost Apple to develop the iPhone 5? There’s a heck of a lot more to the cost of a product than just the materials. A bottle of wine is a lot more than just the cost of grapes and some glass, right?
Apple’s prices are just over the top! They make such a huge profit. Rip off!
R&D, tooling, marketing, and design are all things that would be covered (plus) if millions of people payed double. Milllions of people are paying Quadruple. There is no excuse for that except Apple greed. But hey, they gotta pay for that Space Station somehow.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I thought the iPhone was made by the gods? :)
lets see. if you charge double what a the phone costs to make, that means your getting the price of parts, labor, and probably the initial shipping and handling to the stores twice. Now, even if every user broke 50% of their phone, the parts and labor would still be covered. that leaves (and ill be really conservative for you here because i dont feel like doing actual math) at the absolute least 5 dollars per phone left over.
They’ve sold over 250million iphone 4’s alone. and the ad budget for All of Apple (both iphones and ipods, AND everything else) in 2009 was 501 million.
…. sooo, even if half of every iphone needed replacement, the remaining budget for double the cost of manufacturing would still cover EVERYTHING!
But in truth, we know most iphones dont break to badly, and even when they do Apple referbs and resells them for only slightly cheaper. and that’s at double the cost.
that was only 10 minutes of research. and common sense.
Samsung is no different. Samsung makes most of these parts.