Apple Said to Shaves Cost from Displays in iPhones
Apple shaved some parts from the display in its largest new iPhone, helping keep costs under control in what has become the priciest component of its phones in recent years.
TechInsights published a new cost analysis of the device and said that
the iPhone Xs Max with 256 gigabytes of storage capacity contains about $443 in parts and assembly costs, compared with $395.44 for the 64-gigabyte version of last year's iPhone X.
Apple's iPhone Xs starts at $999, and the budget-minded iPhone Xr starts at $749. The iPhone Xs Max - with a 6.5-inch display that uses OLED technology - pushed new pricing boundaries, starting at $1,099.
In its cost analysis released on Tuesday, TechInsights found that the single priciest part in the iPhone Xs Max - the display - cost $80.50, compared with $77.27 for last year's iPhone X, which featured a smaller 5.8-inch screen. The relatively small increase in cost despite the larger screen size was because Apple appeared to have removed some components related to its 3D Touch system, which makes apps respond differently depending on how hard users press the screen.
"They took out adds up to about $10, so this $80 estimate would have been about $90," said l Cowsky, who oversees cost analysis at TechInsights. "They had a trade-off in cost."
But Bob O'Donnell of TECHnalysis Research said Apple likely made the right decision to focus on ensuring it could deliver a larger-screened model this year economically.
Other costs that increased were the phone's processor and modem chips, primarily because the chips used newer chip-making techniques from Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd to boost their performance while taking up the same space. The 256-gigabyte iPhone Xs Max TechInsights analyzed sells for $1,249 in the United States.
Below you see an estimation of the component costs of the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone X
Apple iPhone XS Max A1921 |
Apple iPhone X A1091 |
|
Applications Processor/Modems | $72.00 | $66.22 |
Battery | $9.00 | $6.46 |
Connectivity & Sensors | $18.00 | $17.11 |
Cameras | $44.00 | $42.80 |
Display | $80.50 | $77.27 |
Memory | $64.50 | $45.35 |
Mixed Signal/RF | $23.00 | $23.31 |
Power Management/Audio | $14.50 | $14.16 |
Other Electronics | $35.00 | $32.51 |
Mechanicals/Housings | $58.00 | $45.71 |
Test/Assembly/Supporting Materials | $24.50 | $24.55 |
Total | $443.00 | $395.44 |