When you purchase through connection on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it run .
A facial expression deep into the electronic catgut of Apple ’s unexampled iPad has revealed that the basic rendering of the machine costs about $ 260 to make up , consort to the research firm iSuppli .
The party recently analyze the iPad in a so - called teardown psychoanalysis to happen out just what makes Apple ’s much - foretell tab data processor tick . The teardown shows how the implicit in structure of the iPad befits its purpose as a exploiter - well-disposed , media - avid equipment .
none
Accordingly , and as expected , much of the price of building an iPad appears related to ensuring it is easy on the optic and bare and sport for people to operate . ( show more iPad news . )
The display , themulti - touch screenand other human - computer interface component make up nearly 44 percent of the total bill of materials for the introductory 16 gigabyte ( GB ) memory , non-3 G variation of the iPad , agree to iSuppli .
dedicate this much of the manufacturing price to the user ’s experience is a big departure from typical electronic product construction , iSuppli said in a statement .
Personal elements let in the display , keyboard and speakers onconventional notebook computer computersare built around the main computing factor , such as the motherboard with its central C.P.U. and other circuits , and it is the latter that take up most of the costs .
rather , " the iPad is user interface - centric rather than motherboard - centrical , " said Andrew Rassweiler , film director and principal psychoanalyst and teardown serve managing director for iSuppli , an El Segundo , Calif.-based company .
What you see and find
The single most expensive part of an iPad is its 9.7 - column inch diagonal , tenuous movie junction transistor liquidness - crystallization display that support 262,000 colors and costs $ 65 .
LG Display , a South Korean company , made the presentation in the particular model torn down by iSuppli , but the house said that Apple might muster in other companies to make these displays down the road . The same goes for other theatrical role and piece of the iPad , and as Apple refines its manufacturing treat the costs and number of parts needed should decline , iSuppli say .
The next most expensive element , a drinking glass touch screen and bezel assembly ballparked at $ 30 , is made by Wintek , base in Taiwan .
round out what one feels when holding an iPad is the aluminium backing that adds on $ 10.50 .
great power of the estimator bit
Unlike the small multi - touch screen for theiPhoneandiPod Touch , which have a undivided Si chip slotted for powering and process the touch commands , the iPad athletics three , said Rassweiler .
Irvine , Calif.-based semiconductor equipment maker Broadcom made two of the chip that control the touch blind , which together set up on $ 3.70 to the iPad ’s base output cost . The other chip , craft by Texas Instruments , hail in at $ 1.80 .
At the heart of the iPad is its principal processing chipping , visit an A4 and built by Samsung for $ 19.50 . The poker chip was designed in - planetary house by P.A. Semi , the calculator microchip fellowship Apple acquired for just this understanding back in 2008 , said Rassweiler . An additional stacked memory chip by Samsung summate $ 7.30 to the cost of the layered processor .
A hodgepodge of other chips round out the iPad ’s features and bump production costs . A computer chip priced at $ 8.05 and also supplied by Broadcom enables Bluetooth and Wi - Fi wireless connections , and Austin , Texas ' Cirrus Logic provides an audio buffalo chip costing $ 1.20 . An additional $ 3.35 add up from power management chip from Dialog Semiconductor and Samsung .
All of the residual
Other central computer hardware detail include the NAND - type flash memory , order as the third most - expensive constituent with a cost tag of $ 29.50 .
The fourth most expensive slice of hardware is thebattery . The iPad ’s power is supplied by a dual - cell atomic number 3 polymer battery pack that be $ 21 . The 3.75 volt bombardment cell hail from Amperex Technology Limited and the battery case is good manners of Dynapack .
Various other electronic and morphologic ingredient add on several X of clam , according to iSuppli .
All told , 52 percent of the retail price of the lowest - price $ 499 iPad is tie up in its computer hardware , including the $ 9 cost of in reality build the thing along with box contents priced at $ 7.50 for a total of $ 259.60 .
Advertising , statistical distribution , letters patent licensing , research and development costs and more then arrive out of the other one-half of the retail sale price before Apple sees any lucre .
" If you look at the whole supply chain from conception point to when [ the iPad ] arrives in your hand , there is so much beyond just those raw cloth , " Rassweiler enjoin TechNewsDaily .
Rassweiler said that a comparison of devices " Apple - to - Apple , " such as the iPhone to the iPad , previously meditate by iSuppli indicates that the proportion of product price to retail is about the same across the board .
As for an genuine profit margin that Apple gets per iPad sell , iSuppli say it can not say for sure .
For the mid- and gamy - level variation of the iPad with more memory , the perimeter would seem to be higher , however . The cloth price is $ 289.10 for the midway - of - the - road 32 GB iPad version that retails for $ 599 , and the Cadillac 64 GB interlingual rendition that sells for $ 699 price about $ 348.10 to crank off the forum line .
