Here we go again. Merrill Lynch, the investment banking enterprise that got acquired by Bank of America during the wild west days of the financial crisis, has tasked its analysts with calculating how much the new iPhone 6s, 3D Touch and all, costs in components alone. You can see the breakdown in the chart above, and it's higher than the usual "s" mid-cycle upgrade, as there are plenty of new things inside, like a fresh camera sensor, or a pressure-sensitive screen layer, as well as a new haptic motor for the 3D Touch feedback tech.
About half of the cost goes to the silicon and cellular radios, such as $25 for the 14nm A9 processor, $20 for the 64 GB of flash memory piece, $36 for the radios, including Qualcomm's LTE modem that allows record band count support, $22 for the sensors such as the fingerprint one, and the list goes on. The screen is also a big chunk in the spending, tucked in the $74 "component" category, while "others", like the aluminum chassis and cabling, go for about $33 per piece.
All in all, the 64 GB iPhone 6s costs Apple roughly $234 to produce, plus some R&D and distribution costs tacked on, which in the case of Apple are not a big percentage of the whole. The phone retails for $750, and keeps its value more than any other brand, and that margin is all you need to show when someone asks you why Apple is the most profitable company in the world.
Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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