isupply

Display tech, 4G hikes iPhone 5 cost to $199

A preliminary analysis puts the iPhone 5's cost at $199, slightly more than the iPhone 4S.

The virtual teardown by IHS iSuppli puts the bill of materials, or BOM, at $199 for the low-end model with 16GB of NAND flash memory.

After factoring in the $8 manufacturing cost, the cost to produce the phone increases to $207, iSuppli said.

The BOM jumps to $209 for the 32GB version of the phone and $230 for the high-end 64GB version, the market researcher said.

"The iPhone 5's components are expected to be slightly more expensive compared to the iPhone … Read more

Shipment stats for 3D TVs jump out at researchers

More 3D TVs than ever are going to be flying toward consumers this year, according to analysts at IHS iSuppli.

With lower prices, and with TV makers pushing 3D harder than ever, shipments of 3D sets are likely to jump by 463 percent this year to hit 23.4 million units from just 4.2 million last year, IHS iSuppli said. Eyeing the years ahead, shipments will climb by 132 percent in 2012 to reach 54.2 million. By 2014, consumers will be facing more than 100 million 3D TVs, followed by 159.2 million in 2015.

Last year, many … Read more

Motorola Xoom's speedy parts top iPad in cost

Questions about the Xoom's higher price vis-a-vis the iPad have been dogging Motorola as the world waits on the imminent iPad 2. IHS iSuppli has provided at least one answer: the underlying cost of the Xoom is higher due, in some cases, to higher-performance parts.

The current iPad 3G 32GB model--the closest approximation to the Motorola Xoom--is priced at $729, while the Xoom is priced at $799. That has elicited complaints from some quarters. But IHS iSuppli shows there is a valid price differential because of the higher-cost--and typically higher performance--parts used in the Xoom. Of course, if Apple … Read more

Chip spending could reach double-digit growth this year

Following a weak market in 2009, the semiconductor industry will be the beneficiary of double-digit spending gains this year, says new research unveiled Thursday by iSuppli.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to boost their chip spending 13 percent to $177.9 billion in 2010, while electronic manufacturing service (EMS) providers will spend $37.7 billion this year, a gain of 15.1 percent from 2009.

Among OEMs, Hewlett-Packard will be the top spender on semiconductors this year, says iSuppli, paying around $12.6 billion for its stock of chips. In second place will be Samsung Electronics, spending $12.5 … Read more

CNET TV Apple Byte: MacWorld 2010

Brian Tong discusses the latest news in the world of Apple. This week, iSuppli has a cost estimate of the iPad, Hulu may soon be available on the iPhone OS, and Brian takes a tour of the MacWorld show floor.

Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums. Do you have questions, issues, or stories you would like to see on MacFixIt? Email Us.

Cost to build iPad: iSuppli says as little as $229.35

iSuppli, the outfit that makes it a habit of tearing down products as soon as they're released and splaying out their components for all to see, has already done an analysis of what it will cost Apple to build the $500 base model iPad. Not surprisingly, the number comes in at a good 50 percent less than the sales price--and it gets even better (for Apple anyway) as you move to the 32GB and 64GB models and add the 3G wireless component.

Remember, of course, this is only an estimate of hardware and manufacturing costs and doesn't factor … Read more

Apple iPad profit model gets a 'teardown'

Like the iPhone, Apple stands to make a greater profit on the iPad when consumers choose models with more memory, according to an estimate released by iSuppli on Wednesday.

The $729 version of Apple's iPad is estimated to carry a bill of materials (BOM) and manufacturing cost of $287.15, making it the most profitable iPad model, according to iSuppli. The iPad is expected to go on sale as early as next month.

The firm did not have an iPad in hand when doing its analysis but based the virtual teardown on an in-house cost model that includes commodity components that are used across many devices.

Though the estimate does not account for non-hardware costs, as the price of different models increases, other costs will stay the same, according to Francis Sideco, an analyst at iSuppli. "Regardless of the configuration, software and licensing is going to stay the same. The only thing that's going to change are the hardware costs and primarily the memory," Sideco said in an interview.

That memory-based pricing scheme has become standard practice for Apple when pricing its iPhone and iPod, for example. For the iPad, the 32GB model will be the most profitable, costing only $29.50 more to produce than the 16GB versions, but the retail price gap is $100, iSuppli said. After the display, the NAND flash memory is expected to be the most expensive item. In the mid-range 3G model, the 32GB of NAND accounts for 21.4 percent of the total BOM, iSuppli said. … Read more

Sony still losing on every PlayStation 3 it sells

Although PlayStation 3 sales have been on the rise and Sony has a rosy outlook for the console's future, it turns out that the company is still losing money on every PlayStation 3 unit it sells.

According to The Wall Street Journal, which examined Sony's fiscal third-quarter financial performance, the company loses 6 cents on "every dollar of PS3 hardware sales." Considering the PlayStation 3 current retails for $300, we can safely assume then, that the company loses about $18 per unit.

Admittedly, losing money on console sales is typical in the gaming industry. But Sony'… Read more

Chip equipment market set to rebound

Chip manufacturing equipment is yet another tech sector eyeing a recovery this year, according to projections from market researcher iSuppli.

Global spending on chip manufacturing gear will grow by 46.8 percent over 2009, according to the report released Friday. The growth will follow nearly three down years. This upturn could be good news for the tech industry. Makers of chip manufacturing equipment are often considered the proverbial canary in the coal mine for the rest of tech, because new orders often indicate a growing confidence in consumer or business spending.

The chip industry was hit by a particularly severe … Read more