Apple’s newest phone, the iPhone SE costs the company approximately Rs. 10,574 ($160) to manufacture. The new phone is set to hit the Indian markets for sale in a few days and will retail at an MRP of Rs. 39,000 ($590) for the 16GB variant. According to the IHS, Apple’s profit margins will be the highest on the iPhone SE since is a culmination of different generations of existing technologies.
The new phone employs the same screen as the iPhone 5S which cost about Rs. 2,640 ($40) when the 5S was released in 2015, but the same screen now costs half the price at Rs. 1,320 ($20). These new screens are being built by LG, Apple’s newest vendor.
The iPhone SE’s screens cost them far less than even the new iPhone 6S’s which is priced at Rs. 3,465 ($52.50). Another interesting fact is that the A9 chips used in the iPhone SE cost less than the Snapdragon 820 chips that Samsung’s S7 employs.
The A9 chip costs Rs. 1,452 ($22) whereas the Snapdragon chip costs RS. 4,092 ($62). While the 16GB variant of the new iPhone SE costs Rs. 10,574 ($160) to manufacture, the 64GB variant costs only Rs. 660 ($10) more at Rs. 11,220 ($170). Apple sells this 64GB variant for a Rs. 6,600 ($100) premium over the price of the 16GB variant, fetching an excess of Rs. 5,940 ($90).
IHS has issued a statement mentioning that these manufacturing costs are calculated based on raw expenses incurred to build the phone and do not account for services such as research and development, advertising, marketing and royalty that a brand usually adds over the manufacturing costs for their products.
