[Discuss] [OT] Smart Phones

[dsr at randomstring.org (Dan Ritter)]

On Tue, Mar 05, 2013 at 04:34:55PM -0500, Theodore Ruegsegger wrote:
> Rich Pieri <richard.pieri at gmail.com> wrote:
> > "Rich Braun" <richb at pioneer.ci.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Sometime last year a major news organization (I think it was ABC)
> >> announced that the build cost of an iPhone is US$8, which if true
> >
> > BS. The box and box contents (charger, headphones) are eight bucks.
> > Total BOM and manufacture costs for iPhone 5 ranges from $207 to $238
> > according to iSuppli's analysis. iPhone 4s BOM+manufacture costs run
> > from $196 to $253. This is just the hardware components. It does not
> > include software, licensing, royalties, advertising, shipping, and so
> > forth.
> >
> > Welcome to the modern "news reporting" where journalistic integrity and
> > basic fact-checking take a back seat to hype and ratings.
> 
> I'm not familiar with iSuppli. Can you explain why you believe that
> market-research firm's claims are more credible?
> 
> It would certainly be useful to know the actual production cost
> (incremental cost of mass-production, not a hypothetical one-shot or
> prototype) of a smart phone, but dueling assertions doesn't get us any
> closer to knowing.

isupply and ifixit buy samples, identify all the parts, get
quotes from suppliers, and make reasonable estimates for
assembly costs and custom component costs. Then they show you
the various estimates that they make.

I tend to believe they're in the right ballpark.

-dsr-