Like every year, Apple’s margin in the sale of its flagship products is the subject of much debate. According to a study carried out by Counterpoint, the 128 GB iPhone 14 Pro Max, sold by Apple for a whopping $1,099 in the United States and €1,479 in France, would cost only one third of the production for the brand. . The study specifies that this price is around $464, an increase of 3.7% compared to that of the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
According to Counterpoint Research, producing an in-house chip is expensive. Apple’s new A16 Bionic chip alone would account for 20% of the total component cost, a 2% increase over the A15 Bionic. “Due to its more advanced 4nm process, the processor alone is expected to represent an $11 cost increase, bringing the category share to 20%”specifies the study firm.
5G is getting cheaper and cheaper
Another element of the cabin on the increase and which is expensive: the screen. The new Oled panel manufactured by Samsung, including Dynamic Island and Always-On-Display, would also represent 20% of the total price of the components against 19% on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The photo part is also increasing with a main camera of 48 megapixels which would represent 11% of the price of the terminal, an increase of 1% compared to the previous model. Only the share of components linked to the cellular connection seems to be falling, dropping from 14% to 13% of the cost of production thanks to the democratization of 5G technology which makes the equipment more affordable.
Obviously, these analyzes omit some other costs to add to the smartphone. First of all, there is assembly, labor or transport, to which must still be added costs related to advertising or marketing (which will be quickly amortized, of course), and others hard to imagine for the end consumer.
Finally, remember that the same study published by Counterpoint gave an estimate of $413 production cost for the Pixel 7 Pro would cost $413 to produce while its selling price is much lower (€899 in the 128 GB version).