How much does Apple make on an iPhone 4S?

iSuppli has checked the components that makes up the newest iPhone from Apple, the “4S” and according to them, the total cost of these components amounts to US$190. And it sells for around $649 in the US, such an iPhone, so a pretty good profit.

For comparison, Nokia’s Lumia 900 phone costs $209 to make and sells for $450 in the US.

On top of that, Apple makes a good amount of money on the App Store that comes with all iPhones as well.

But, that doesn’t tell the entire story. Nobody really knows how much money and man hours went into research & development to actually design and come up with the iPhone 4S in the first place, so even though Apple might be getting a $459 profit per iPhone (before tax etc), they still need to cover their initial costs (R&D), plus of course costs to transportation, salaries etc.

All in all, the iPhone 4S is a damn good device πŸ™‚

12 thoughts on “How much does Apple make on an iPhone 4S?”

  1. When you are paying for something you are not only paying the material costs. Thats why the profit may seem high but think how many people have worked on creating an iPhone and for how long…

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  2. wow, that’s a lot of money that i could wish to get. lol. some information here are wow! (lacking something to say). but we have to admit that iPhone 4S is a great phone.

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  3. I think that’s a pretty good prfit for Apple and I wouldn’t think very much about the work that went into the designing and making the iPhone what it is today. There are a lot of companies doing that and their products fail most of the times.

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  4. That is high for a profit, but if they are swinging those numbers then all the power to them! I think a better representation of the profit would take into account labor at least. Its funny to think that the all mighty and power Iphone can assembled for under $200.

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  5. Unbelievable – Wonder what discount employees from apple and samsung get when wanting to buy one of these two Fantastic phones. This should be a good sign to investors on the profit the company will make – at least more or less.

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  7. I also read an article that iphone already overtakes the sales of all other brands like nokia, sony erricson, etc. Their main competitor left in the arena is the Samsung mobile because of their galaxy tabs.

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  8. Thanks for presenting good statistic. I think most of the smart phones which come in iPhone level category are hardware wise same but the only difference is in software. The iPhone has more organized software and one more thing, making easy to use phone is not simple but Apple has always done it. We do not pay just for hardware but also for software development, research, packaging, distribution and advertising and the rest.

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  9. Not to mention they receive money from the companies that have signed on to sell the Iphone. Sprint paid 20 Billion yes Billion with a B to be the exclusive Iphone 5 carrier when it is finally released. And the exclusive tag is not for that long.

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  10. iPhone 4S is off to a great start in terms of sales …but i think apple will get its components at an extremely reduced price.Especially if you consider the number that they will buy.

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  11. that is interesting to know, and I never really thought about breaking it down that wya. You are right no one know how much R&D went into making it.

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