The cost of making Apple products, at a glance

[specsaregood]

er,no marketing and retailing costs? what about the cost of the apple designers themselves? the apple software and design engineers must cost a bomb

plus support costs and warranty repair costs, patents, cross-licensing agreements, shipping, legal, etc

[amonasro]

That's why I'm very skeptical the materials and components actually cost that much. If it was true that an iPad nets $200 profit, and the assembly costs $10. That means Apple really only pockets $190. Like you said, how can retail fit into this $190? Marketing may be cheap because they have a cult following.

Then they must make more money on the iPhone then. True it only costs us $200 for the base model, but AT&T (or Verizon) foots the bill for the other $400.

[onlyrp]

plus support costs and warranty repair costs, patents, cross-licensing agreements, shipping, legal, etc

Those costs are relatively low on a per unit scale. Plus, you can charge for support, or ask for a pre-paid warranty.

[onlyrp]

Then they must make more money on the iPhone then. True it only costs us $200 for the base model, but AT&T (or Verizon) foots the bill for the other $400.

which is ultimately passed to the consumer.

[squarepusher]

eBay price for 16g model is about $550
http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Apple-iPhone...pt=Cell_Phones

The iPhone 4S with 32g is actually $749 retail
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/s...edPhoneId=5776

The 16Gig is $649
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5773

[heavenlyboy34]

hardly. I think the point of this article is that Apple makes LITTLE profit if the costs are accurate. And the wages to assemble such high technology, compared to the materials, is negiligible. If the material costs are accurate, that means a $500 iPad has only about 40% profit (this is assuming it costs nothing to ship, handle and operate retail stores). Which is very low for anything that costs $300 to make.

A $500 iPad makes less than $200. And the $10 assemble fee is ridiculously low.

The labor costs are extremely low compared to the material costs. But labor costs is NOT the total cost.

I stand corrected.