The report was published early by AllThingsD:
According the findings of an IHS report coming tomorrow (but shared with AllThingsD today), Apple spends at least $191 on components to build a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5S.
The cost rises to $210 for a 64 GB unit. The cost of assembly adds another $8 per unit, bringing the range to between $199 and $218.
The costs only are for assembly and parts and don’t include expenses of royalties, licensing, distribution, manufacturing, R&D etc.
The current prices for iPhone 5s are $649 for 16 GB, $749 for 32 GB and $849 for 64 GB, while iPhone 5c is for $549 for 16 GB and $649 for 32 GB.
Apple is charging $200 extra from 16 to 64 GB increase, but the storage only costs Apple $19. The Retina display costs $41.
iSuppli also reports on other places where costs are saved:
Apple seems to be spending a lot of time and money combining RF chips. Where other phone companies would be using whatever chips its various vendors sell off-the-shelf, Apple seems to be pushing its RF suppliers to do things they don’t do for anyone else.
The wireless parts are bought from companies like RF Micro Devices, Triquint Semiconductor, Skyworks, Avago and Qualcomm.
The iPhone 5 supported no more than five LTE bands. The 5s and 5c can support as many as 13, and that’s unique. Unlike other phones designers, Apple has spent a lot of time collaborating with the RF chip companies to find novel solutions that its competitors don’t have.
The source also notes that both iPhone 5s and 5c is using same RF chips costing $32. The estimates are given for the 16 GB models.
iSuppli revealed that iPhone 5 costs $199 to build.
Apple has reduced the price by $26 when iPhone 5 and 5c are compared, and the iPhone 5s only costs $26 more. The estimate does cover the cost of camera upgrade, Touch ID fingerprint, the new M7 chip and the new 64-bit A7 chip. A7 chip costs $19 and Touch ID was built at just $7.
So what do you think guys ?
