iPhone 3GS costs US$178.96 to build

Gadget teardown site iSuppli has revealed that the materials used to make the new 16GB iPhone 3GS costs US$172.46. That with the manufacturing expense of US$6.50 gives Apple's new mobile a total cost of US$178.96, slightly over US$4 more than the previous model. This does not include other costs such as software development, shipping and distribution, packaging, royalty fees and the accessories included (mobile charger, stand, usb wire etc.).

Andrew Rassweiler, iSuppli's director and principal analyst says that the RRP of the 16GB iPhone 3GS remains the same (US$199 with 24 month contract) as the previous 8GB iPhone 3G is because the actual price of the phone is paid by the service provider (AT&T) which reflects the common wireless industry practice of subsidizing the upfront cost of a mobile phone and then making a profit on subscriptions.

Source DigitalKiwi via Gizmodo via iSuppli