Edible Apple

For as much as Apple fans feel an affinity towards Apple products, or even the company itself, it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, Apple is a company intent on maximizing profits just like any other. To that end, Apple has proven quite adept at cutting costs over the years via a variety of methods, the most notable being it’s penchant for purchasing component parts in bulk to secure supply at a favorable price over a lengthy period of time.

In light of that, iSuppli found, upon tearing apart the CDMA iPhone 4, that the bill of materials (BOM) for the device is a few bucks lower than the GSM model.

The latest version of the iPhone 4 carries a BOM of $171.35, down from $187.51 for the previous model, based on a preliminary pricing estimate issued in June. When manufacturing expenses are added, the total production cost for the CDMA iPhone 4 amounts to $178.45.

“With the CDMA iPhone 4, Apple Inc. has shown once again that it never recycles a product design,” said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, teardown services, for IHS. “Apple’s new designs always exhibit changes, evolution and optimization. This approach is evident not only in the antenna design but also in items like the integrated GPS functionality and the shrinking of the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo module. As we dig deeper into our teardown analysis, we’re certain that we will find a host of other tweaks all designed to improve quality but keep costs on a steady path of decline.”

On the Verizon iPhone, the most significant component parts are the touchscreen display which costs $37.80 and memory which checks in at $40.40.