Apple is notorious for keeping costs down, while slipping just enough innovation with the newest iPhone to make the upgrade worth your while. Techinsights have come up with a preliminary bill of materials for the newest iPhone 5, and concluded it costs $168 to build one.
Of course, a more precise amount will be given when the first teardown appears, and it is know exactly what components are inside, so $168 is a very preliminary estimate. Those $18 for the screen look a bit cheap, while $28 for the A6 a bit steep for an in-house solution, but we should know more soon.
In any case, it looks like the iPhone 5 is more expensive to produce than the iPhone 4S, which is a no-brainer, but it still won't go too much above the $200 mark when assembly, R&D and sales/marketing costs are taken into account. That's exactly the usual ballpark for Apple, so even though this is the now-standard third-year design upgrade, Cupertino will still make out like a bandit, selling those at over $600 SIM-free.
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