Comments on: iPhone 4S component cost is $188; Samsung edged out

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:04:00 +0000

they probably spent their money on the design of A5. that is R&D. don’t tell me samsung did it for them. manufacturing is not the same as chip design. to save you some trouble so you won’t look like an idiot.

By: DTO

DTO — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:37:00 +0000

When it comes to the US contract prices for the iphone, the carriers don’t have a say what to price it as. Apple dictates to them how much it costs – but they are the only company to do so. For all other phones, it depends on the carrier how much they would like to discount it.

By: jezza

jezza — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:41:00 +0000

really ? now youre replying to ppl ?

By: Edward Kim

Edward Kim — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:55:00 +0000

WJMkKz,

Apple’s R&D expense is tiny for its size. Most of the core R&D is done by Apple’s suppliers. Do you think Apple spend any R&D on its Retinal Display? That product was developed and is manufactured by LG. Apple just prodded them along with a promise of a fat contract.

By: Edward Kim

Edward Kim — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:53:00 +0000

Hynix? Still, a Korean company. Hynix was Hyundai’s attempt to get into chip manufacturing. It went bankrupt during the East Asian Economic crisis and get bought by the government.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:14:00 +0000

Apple dont loose money, they sell it to carriers at certain prices (what price? i dont know maybe 2 times the production cost), then the carrier then decides what discounts to give….

By: WJMcKz

WJMcKz — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:05:00 +0000

Assuming you would have to add assembly cost, packaging, shipping, amortized R&D and support to the $188 component cost, the $199 subsidized cost for an iPhone 4S is a steal! A customer is essentially acquiring the phone for less than Apple’s cost. Yes, yes, I know, you have to pay the monthly data fee for two years (not really), but that’s for a service. You would pay for data if you own a smartphone even if you’re not subsidizing the cost of a new phone.