SlashGear

I’ve made tentative plans to have my body opened up (after my death, of course) and each of the constituent parts valued; that way people will know just how much has been spent on me compared to my inherent worth.  After all, it’s an indignity most new iPod models suffer: research firm iSuppli have been poking around in the cramped innards of a new nano and found that, thanks to some canny parts juggling, Apple have reduced build cost by over $13 from previous models.  Turns out that the 4GB nano you pay $150 for has less than $60 worth of components, while the $200 8GB version has under $83.

Now I’m not suggesting that Apple are screwing people over; they price their products according to what the market will support, and there are obviously a fair few people out there willing to pay for the latest Cupertino toy.  The raw hardware figures don’t take into account research & development costs, either, nor the price of actually putting the thing together.  Still, rough estimates peg profit margins at 30 to 35-percent, with many of the savings made through rival component manufacturers vying for Apple’s attentions.

iSuppli predicts nano sales of 23 million by the end of 2007, with a further 28 million sold in 2008.

Business Week [via The Raw Feed]