Someone who is far braver than I am over at IHS Markit decided to get hold of the latest flagship from Samsung the Galaxy S8 and take it apart to have a look-see what’s inside.
While ferking around, they have decided to do a quick cost breakdown of the various bits and bobs inside. The total bill for materials inside the handset is thought to be about £242, with another £4.70 in manufacturing expenses, giving a total for each Galaxy S8 at approximately £250 to manufacture. This cost is about £35 more than the estimated cost to produce the S7, which is probably down to the use of the new infinity display. That display is not only bigger, but is more expensive to make, and that’s with the inclusion of the iris scanner as well.
While the costs of some components are unknown, IHS estimates the NAND and DRAM memory combined costs about £33, and the 3000 mAh battery coming in at a meager £3.50.
Before you start screaming ‘hang on, Samsung is charging £690 for the device, that’s an enormous £440 profit’, out of that must come the development, design, transportation, support, and marketing costs that get the device into your little mitts, although I bet they are still making a bob or two out of each device.
Source IHS Markit