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Motorola DROID most expensive smartphone to build?

Motorola DROID most expensive smartphone to build?

Posted: 16 Jan 2010, 00:39, by Alan F.

Categories: Verizon Verizon Motorola Motorola Unofficial Unofficial Android Android QWERTY QWERTY Touch Touch Bookmark

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This article contains unofficial information.

Motorola DROID most expensive smartphone to build?

The Motorola DROID is the most expensive smartphone to produce based on reverse engineering by iSuppli. Parts going into the device cost $179.11 and labor comes to $8.64. The most expensive parts of the handset are the screen and the 16GB microSD card that comes out of the box. The Apple iPhone 3GS is right behind at $178.96 followed by the Nexus One with a value of $174.15 to build. The DROID's 3.7 inch capacitive touchscreen with a leading resolution of 480 X 854 pixels, supports 16 million colors and runs $17.75 per unit. The touchscreen overlay runs $17.50 making the combined cost of the screen and the overlay $35.25 or 18% of the DROID's total expense.

Inside the unit, iSuppli found a 5MP camera set with heat actuated auto focus. A tri-band Qualcomm chipset supports CDMA/1X./Ev-Do, 850/1900/AWS (1700/2100Mhz used by small carriers like Cricket). Dual internal microphones for noise cancellation was found although no supporting audio codec was found to enable the feature. Check out the accompanying chart for a list of components and prices that make up the flagship Verizon device.

Motorola DROID Specifications | Review

source: iSuppli via AndroidAuthority

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1. jundibasam posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:44 0 0

so basically, the $199.99 subsidized price is at cost for the manufacturers and considering they still have to make a profit when they sell to vzw, its likely big red probably does pay significantly more to Motorola for each handset than the two-year subsidized price. Especially considering the price doesn't include manufacturing overhead, other fixed and variable costs, indirect costs like marketing, sales, packaging

2. VZWEMP posted on 16 Jan 2010, 08:00 0 0

finally someone who understands that just because a phone costs x amount of dollars to manufacture doesnt mean thats what a carrier payed for it

4. renegade626 posted on 16 Jan 2010, 08:56 0 0

Its too bad a huge ammount of consumers dont understand this... most expensive phones to make = most expensive phone for vzw to buy I would estimate these things are roughly $400-$500 cost to verizon after considering markup and everything else

5. YouLostTheGame posted on 16 Jan 2010, 09:16 0 0

Seriously! Where are all those pricks on here complaining of the new higher ETFs on PDAs now? Are you listening FCC Chaiman? IT COSTS FUCKING MONEY TO DO BUSINESS! Or has that concept escaped you since you are, (cough) working, over on capital hill?!

3. thismancooks posted on 16 Jan 2010, 08:16 0 0

Interesting, The battery is the cheapest piece of hardware in the phone but is the most critical of any phone. So, why not beef up the battery to get longer power times if it's so cheap? If reviews of the DROID phone bragged about the battery lasting twice as long as any other phone they would sell like crazy...most negative reviews appear to always point to battery life. Look at the reviews for Eris...all good except for battery life!

6. imad_003 posted on 16 Jan 2010, 11:15 0 0

Did any one notice the FM transmitter. Is it the same as the one on N97 or something else?

7. AZNphoneGeek posted on 16 Jan 2010, 12:18 0 0

ya ever heard that old story about how Oakley glasses only cost less than a dollar to make? duh well we all know that. that doesn't mean oakley wholesale costs them to vendors. they were still charging some $30 or so was it for the units? so yeah... same big. as far as i've been told, every cel carrier out there initially LOOSES money on the handsets cause the basic thought is that they will eventually make it up in the service cost.