We thought that HTC's bold venture into the direct-to-consumer space pretty much spelled doom for its once-burgeoning ODM business, but apparently not. We don't know if these guys are just exceptionally good at what they do, exceptionally cheap, exceptionally convincing, or some combination of the above, because a report out of Taiwan's Commercial Times claims that Palm, i-mate, and MWG -- all companies who've moved their manufacturing contracts solidly away from HTC in recent years -- have come back into the fold, ultimately bumping HTC's contracting business to account for more than 10 percent of its total business in the first quarter. We're skeptical that these three brands (all of whom compete with HTC at retail) would suddenly decide to throw up the white flag at roughly the same time, but considering the kinds of things that happen when other ODMs come into the picture, a little HTC TLC could be just what the doctor ordered.

[Via IntoMobile]

Unlike video game consoles, phones are typically profitable to manufacture from day one and it turns out that the iPhone is no exception -- far from it, in fact. Teardown specialists at Portelligent claim that the 4GB iPhone runs Apple just $200 worth of components, while the 8GB adds an extra $20, not far off at all from iSuppli's slightly higher estimates from January. Granted those tallies don't include the actual cost of assembling the device -- but even so, those numbers are very far cries from the $500 and $600 asking prices at the register, leaving a healthy $299 and $379 respectively (of which an overwhelming majority are $379) for profit and miscellaneous costs. Interestingly, Portelligent's unceremonious destruction of an iPhone in the name of research revealed no further proof that Hon Hai / Foxconn is the ODM responsible for assembling the darned thing.

When your government raises tariffs on imported phones from 4 percent to a staggering sixty percent, you kinda hope there are plans in place to start producing handsets on home turf. That's exactly the bind Iranians find themselves in at the moment, but relief's in sight -- the head of Iran Telecommunication Manufacturing Company says his folks are ready to start selling ITMC-branded phones as soon as June of this year, with a full 300,000 units being thrown together by year's end. Though the manufacturing is homegrown, it appears the technology is not; Iran has contracted with as-yet-unnamed South Korean companies to get the necessary equipment and tech brought over to Iranian borders. If this means Iran gets a DMB-equipped Shine before we do, that's going to be so not cool.

[Via textually.org]

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.