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Palm Pre already torn to shreds, estimated to cost $170

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 6th 2009 @ 12:21PM

Zero-day teardowns are now a staple of major new product launches, and Rapid Repair is eager to do the deed on the Pre just a few hours after going on sale. Word like "pry," "razor," "spudge," and "difficult" all make appearances in this one, so the long and the short of it is that you don't want to try doing this yourself unless you're a microsurgeon, an electrical engineer, or you have a total commitment and willingness to destroy your brand new Pre in the name of science. Overall, Rapid Repair estimates $170.02 in components -- but as always, this figure doesn't mean a lot since you can't quantify the blood, sweat, tears, and poached engineers from competitors that went into this product over the last several years.

Palm Pre: $138 to build according to iSuppli

by Laura June posted Apr 29th 2009 @ 10:49AM

With the economy in the tank (still) and the heat on, cost and profit margins are more important than ever to companies hoping to stave off the inevitable, apocalyptic doom of recession. Well, iSuppli's released an estimated report of how much its costing Palm to cobble together the Pre -- about $138, as it turns out. iSuppli has positively identified just two of the Pre's suppliers thus far -- that Texas Instruments OMAP chip, which runs Palm $11, and Qualcomm's wireless chip -- but they've formed a general picture of what's under the hood for the estimate. That price is about 46 percent of the $300 iSuppli suggests Palm will be charging Sprint for the Pre (a number that's completely unconfirmed at this point). To put it in perspective, the BlackBerry Storm costs about $203 to make and was sold for $199 initially, the G1 clocked in at $144, while the iPhone 3G costs Apple an estimated $174.33. Of course, we have no way of assessing the accuracy of the estimate yet, but if it's in the neighborhood of correct, Palm's profit margin should be pretty healthy.

Will mobile carriers charge different rates for data during peak / off-peak times?

by Darren Murph posted Mar 24th 2009 @ 11:18AM

Yes friends, your worst nightmare could indeed come true. With companies looking for every last way to nickle and dime their few remaining loyal customers, it's now being suggested that mobile operators could start charging different rates for mobile data depending on the time of day. And, let's face it, it makes total sense in a sick, sadistic way. Reportedly, carriers will soon start having a tough time keeping up with all the data-using cellphone and laptop owners, with the latter crew obviously causing the greatest strain on existing networks. A mocoNews report suggests three main ways of dealing with the uptick in demand: 1) keep building out the network and burning cash, 2) using new technology (read: LTE) with more capacity or 3) create rate plans that discourage usage during peak times. We've always heard that history repeats itself, but we'd be just fine with never hearing the words "peak time" ever again.

Guts of BlackBerry Bold found to cost $170

by Darren Murph posted Oct 16th 2008 @ 11:10PM

Not that it really matters to consumers one way or another -- after all, if you want a Bold, you'll pay the asking price -- but recent analysis by research firm iSuppli has found that parts and materials used to make the device "cost $158.16, and that assembly and testing add another $11.25, for a total cost of $169.41." Just for comparison, the Curve costs a cool $103 to build, and assuming RIM can sell the Bold to carriers at around $350, it'll net a gross margin of around 45% before R&D costs, software, marketing, shipping and freebies given to obscenely wealthy celebs are taken into account. The report (er, the part about the nice margins) should come as welcome news to shareholders, who have recently been worried that the current economic situation may keep individuals from snatching up new 'Berrys at a breakneck pace. Now, if only RIM / AT&T would let the thing get through testing, we'd be all set to contribute to those margins here in the US. Ahem.

Pricing "expert": Apple could've charged more for the iPhone

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 25th 2007 @ 9:08PM

It's great to know there's someone out there looking out for the big guy, making sure prices stay high, profits stay fat, and iPhones cost the better part of a grand. That's Rafi Mohammed's job, author of "The Art of Pricing" and head of the dubiously-named consulting firm Culture of Profit. In a recent interview with Blogging Stocks, Mohammed commented that while Apple was on the money with the 4GB iPhone's pricing by keeping it under the psychological barrier of $500, it could've realistically charged far more for the 8GB model in light of the tremendous buzz it's been treated to. His advice to Apple for future iterations of the iPhone, then? "I'd advise Apple to moderate its discounting and consider setting higher prices when it rolls out models with new features." Alright, dude, enjoy your $800 3G iPhone down the road.

[Via Tech Digest]

50-percent of your iPhone purchase to pad Apple's wallet?

by Darren Murph posted Jan 18th 2007 @ 11:11AM

Sure, LG's KE850 Prada handset will set users back a cool $778, and the Google Switch just might pop in to make things a bit more interesting, but a recent research report has unveiled that Apple's sure-to-be-sold-out iPhone is a lean, mean, profit-generating machine nonetheless. While Apple's well-known for selling its iPods (and to a lesser extent, its Macs) for much, much more than it cost to manufacture, even we're a bit taken aback at how hard those corporate buyers must be workin' those suppliers on this one. According to iSuppli (no affiliation with Apple, of course), the 4GB iPhone will yield a "49.3 percent profit margin on each unit sold at the $499 retail price," while the 8GB rendition will kick back a 46.9-percent margin. You heard right, they're supposing the $499 mobile only costs Apple $245.83 to produce, while the 8GB flavor demands just $264.85. Of course, this isn't the first time a hot-selling product has been broken down by the numbers to prove just how ripped off we're all getting (if these numbers are to be trusted, that is) -- but hey, unless you've got the means to buy capacitors and LCD touchscreens by the boatload, you're probably stuck paying exactly what they ask. Plus if all this sudden competition gets a bit too heated, don't think Apple doesn't have any room to introduce a (highly desired) price drop.

Motorola Q broken down by the numbers

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 21st 2006 @ 5:17PM

iSuppli's back doing what they do best -- ripping apart your favorite piece of hardware, adding up the component costs, and letting you know how much you're getting taken when you whip out the plastic. Today's victim is Motorola's text-tastic Q, and though the margins are pretty slim, it looks like Moto and Verizon are in the black on every unit they push. All told, iSupply totals the cost of the Q's guts to be $150; tack on another $8 for manufacturing and you're looking at $158 out the door. The most expensive component, not surprisingly, is the device's 320 x 240 display at $25, with memory and the XScale rounding out the top three. If you've invested in one of these bad boys lately you know that Verizon's charging $199 on a two-year contract, meaning that in the worst case, the two companies are splitting $41 -- and if you opt for a one-year at $349, well, they're just rolling in fat city.