What’s the most expensive smartphone component? Check your guess here

4. Victor.H posted on 10 May 2012, 10:12 10 2

Ah, must have been daydreaming! It's corrected now.

6. remixfa posted on 10 May 2012, 10:46 11 2

thats also a misnomer, because it doesnt cost apple 40 bux for 32 gig of nand. more than likely they paid like 30 bux for it at most. so they are making like an extra $170 in pure profit if you get the 32 gig.

this is why i love when the inuts brag about apple's bottom line. guys, that just means you are paying an arm and a leg. their bottom line is a direct reflection of how much money they can get out of your pocket. What an odd thing to brag about. "yea, im help making someone thats already super rich.. even more super rich.. by giving them a huge premium for nothing!! yeaaa!!"

13. taco50 (banned) posted on 10 May 2012, 14:03 2 8

Really good comment man. Unfortunately this site is crawling with android trolls. Anything than outright blind hatred for Apple will get you a thumbs down.

I've tried explaining to some of them that there's more costs involved other than just straight parts. They don't get it.

14. groupsacc posted on 10 May 2012, 14:31 2 0

Sorry mate, I wasn't actually commenting on any particular brand. I was commenting about all the companies in general, whether it'd be Samsung, Apple, HTC, etc.

18. taco50 (banned) posted on 10 May 2012, 14:45 2 5

You didn't bash Apple though so you got the thumbs down.

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15. Non_Sequitur posted on 10 May 2012, 14:37 2 3

For once, I agree with taco. The iPhone is all marketing. Steve Jobs is an excellent businessman. He got people hooked on Apple products and raised the demand. Now, people buy anything from Apple, no matter the cost.

16. Non_Sequitur posted on 10 May 2012, 14:37 2 2

For once, I agree with taco. The iPhone is all marketing. Steve Jobs is an excellent businessman. He got people hooked on Apple products and raised the demand. Now, people buy anything from Apple, no matter the cost.

17. RazaAsad posted on 10 May 2012, 14:45 2 0

Apple buys in bulk and bulk costs less. Maximizing the profit was, is and will be the main purpose of business but unlike 60s when world economy was on boom and "sales by any means" was the practice, consumer rights and corporate ethics were introduced. No matter small or big, some companies follow em and some not. You can expect a small retail store following ethical approaches and may observe giants exploiting and earning heaps of money with their over-hyped products and services. Nokia seems a sinking ship still investing insane amount of cash over R&D and still manages to produce value for money products and same is the case with other companies. Apple very much depends upon the technology of other manufacturers and we all know that. It most of the times buys already available ground and builds over that. Its not R&D (I do not say thats wrong but you have to admit the fact). As far as monopoly is concerned, I admit there is not any but if we talk about hyped products, iphone is the king with no other company even closer in that field. Apple over the years has developed a hype (Thanks to Steve Jobs) which helps it attract more people who incline towards hyped products rather than making comparative analysis decision. "If you do not have an iphone, well you do not have an iphone" is for such people who would worry they do not have an iphone rather than giving a fair chance to other products before buying. At the end it all boils down to personal choices, I may be satisfied with over-hyped products to show off whereas someone may spend a little brain before spending money :).

19. taco50 (banned) posted on 10 May 2012, 14:56 1 6

One big blob of nonsense viphone users on average are more techy, educated and successful.

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24. remixfa posted on 11 May 2012, 12:09 0 0

macarena

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22. mrochester (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2012, 03:19 1 0

This is so true. Products are priced based on what the market will bare. What is really interesting to me is the psychology behind it. Why is it that Android devices come crashing down in price so soon after launch while the iPhone is able to maintain the same price point? What is it about people buying Android devices that means these things need to come down in price so quickly? Is it that the mentality of the average Android users is that things should be cheap/free so manufacturers have to keep slashing prices to maintain sales?

There are some studies that touch on these questions but they tend to come up with really conflicting conclusions. The most prominent I remember found that people buying Apple products are usually better educated and better off than people buying products from other manufactureres. Does that mean people buying Apple products are making a more informed decision and ergo people buying other products are just being "sheep" by following whatever is popular?

I would love to see a study that got to the bottom of some of these issues!

23. nb2six posted on 11 May 2012, 12:05 1 0

The biggest reason the iPhone can stay at the same price point is because it is the only iPhone. The only one running iOS. Where with the Android models out there, folks have tons of options to choose from and thus there has to be more attractive pricing in order to make profits. However, even with your high end devices, you still them sitting at about the same price point for a generous time. When you have a multitude of android devices coming out that one up each other throughout the year, it makes it almost impossible for a device that is now not the king of the hill to hold its ground at a "king of the hill" price point.

Just my observations in the years that I have been selling devices. I don't want to make myself out as a market analyst or whatever those guys with the fancy titles do.

25. remixfa posted on 11 May 2012, 12:12 0 0

exactly.

free market competition pushes pricing, and the heavy competition on the android side vs the lack of competition on the iOS side is why android phones drop in price. if it was one android superphone vs one iOS phone, the iOS phone would end up dropping first. Android is more popular and better specked, so on a 1 to 1 fight, less likely to drop pricing first.

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