Apple iPad Mini costs £118 to make, £269 to buy

Gerald Lynch Apple, iPad, Tablet, Tech Digest news
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ifixit-ipad-mini.jpegNo sooner has the iPad Mini been put on sale than it’s been torn apart by gadget fans looking to discover its every secret. We’ve already had the iFixit team gauge how difficult it’d be to carry out DIY repairs on the diminutive tablet (conclusion? very difficult), and now component value estimators IHS have ripped the slate apart to figure out exactly how much it costs for Apple to put together.

Despite carrying a $329 price tag (£269 in the UK), the iPad Mini costs just $188 (£118) to make. $80 of that total is display, while upping the storage to 32GB costs just $15.50 in manufacturing parts, and just $46.50 for the 64GB storage amount.

So, Apple are skimming a fair amount of cream off the top of their manufacturing costs with the retail pricing of the iPad Mini, but it’s hardly surprising. You don’t become the world’s most valuable company without an aggressive pricing strategy, and the manufacturing costs of course do not factor in Apple’s likely-huge marketing and R&D costs.

The IHS report also reveals further details on whose individual components make up the whole that is the iPad Mini. Samsung make the A5 processor powering the device, , with LG and AU Optronics handling the display, Hynix Semiconductor providing flash memory chips and Broadcom dishing out the wireless chips.

Via: AllThingsD

Gerald Lynch
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4 comments

  • Another article assuming that something should be sold at little more than cost. What these breakdowns never cover is the cost of development, prototyping, marketing, shipping, and free software updates for life. OK so its a 110% markup from cost, but compared with most industries selling products over £300 thats nothing.

    • Hey Muiramas, there is a line in here defending the cost when marketing and R&D are taken into account. We realise that more than just putting the components together goes into making a product!

  • Another article assuming that something should be sold at little more than cost. What these breakdowns never cover is the cost of development, prototyping, marketing, shipping, and free software updates for life. OK so its a 110% markup from cost, but compared with most industries selling products over £300 thats nothing.

    • Hey Muiramas, there is a line in here defending the cost when marketing and R&D are taken into account. We realise that more than just putting the components together goes into making a product!

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