Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have, as is typically the case with new iPhones, arrived to a great deal of fanfare. As well as the critical acclaim and record sales, social media was consumed by ‘Bendgate’, the idea that the new devices – particularly the iPhone 6 Plus – are prone to bending. Apple stepped out to dispel such a notion, adding that it only uses the highest standard of materials as well as running through extreme quality control measures to ensure the robustness of its handsets. Be that as it may, a new teardown has revealed that the material cost of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus remains decidedly low, despite the considerable increase in price at the consumer end, and with 10 million units sold and counting, the profit margin on these newer smartphones is considerably higher.
It was suspected for several months leading up to the release of the iPhone 6 and its larger counterpart that the increase in display size, radical redesign and numerous other features would almost certainly warrant a price increase, and the numerous reports and rumors on the matter were, if you’ll excuse the pun, right on the money.
But as per a teardown of the materials, supplier IHS has estimated that the 16GB iPhone 6 costs just $200 to make, while the iPhone 6 Plus – $100 more for the base-level configuration – clocks in at a mere $216.
The figures don’t take into consideration how much Apple pays Foxconn to put the numerous components together, as well as shipping, testing and everything else, but given that the top-end iPhone 6 Plus – which includes a larger flash storage – retails for $950, it’s fair to say that Apple is making a tidy wad with each unit sold.
Apple’s tactic of baking in the storage, as opposed to offering expandable memory by means of a microSD slot, has long since paid dividends, and with the iPhone 6 range pushing the boundaries right up to 128GB, the margins have now increased.
It’s worth noting that the 16GB iPhone 6 retails at the same cost as the iPhone 5s did last year, so from that perspective, the price to the end user has remained constant. But with the storage having been upped and the kicker of the iPhone 6 Plus, the line-up is far pricier at each increment, and given the strong sales and launch across 20 new nations today, those with a stake in the company will be rubbing their hands together with glee.
(via: CNet)
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