Check Out The Component Costs Of The Samsung Galaxy S5 Against The iPhone 6

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Check Out The Component Costs Of The Samsung Galaxy S5 Against The iPhone 6

The relationship between Apple and Samsung almost seems to be of a Game Of Thrones status. They are after all, two families that seem eternally set for war against each other. Maybe it was destiny or maybe not. They started on friendlier terms, but it now seems the water under that bridge is far too murky and muddy for them to ever meet in the middle. While they battle out the last of their court cases between them it seems the folks over at IEEE Spectrum have been busy looking at the costs of the various iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S range devices and it makes for interesting reading.

The chart below shows the various manufacturing costs for both the iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S range of devices. As you can see the overall manufacturing costs of the two warring groups are not that different and much similar than you might expect. But what is interesting, is the manufacturing costs over time. While the iPhone 3 had a manufacturing cost of $187.44. The latest offering from Apple, the iPhone 6 costs a much more expensive $228.07. In contrast, Samsung’s Galaxy S started off with a manufacturing cost of $178.81 and the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 costing $215.44. So it would seem Apple had (and still do) have a slightly higher manufacturing cost than Samsung do for the Galaxy S range. Although as the evolutions have come through, it seems Samsung have managed to keep their costs at a steadier rate than apple.

What is as interesting, is the breakdown of the costs for each of the two (this year) flagship devices, the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5. For instance, Samsung’s camera cost was equivalent to 9.37% of the overall S5 cost. While Apple’s camera only accounted for 7.61%. On the other hand, it seems Apple’s core electronics cost was higher than Samsung’s with 25.12% and 22.2% respectively. There are a number of other aspects also compared in the chart below including the cost of ‘Connectivity’, Display/Touch Panel/Glass, Final Assembly/Test, Memory, Other Electrical and Mechanical, Power and lastly Sensors. You can see the cost for any of the models by hovering over the image. Let us know if anything surprised you.