What Does an iPhone Cost?
Ever wonder what it cost to make an iPhone? The case, the core electronics and the display make up about 70% of the $228 component cost of an iPhone 6. Even as Apple adds features and increases price, costs have not gone up significantly. On average costs went up about 6% with each bi-annual major model upgrade. The biggest component cost increases are in the camera and sensors, which are key feature differentiators between the iPhone and other smartphones. Memory makes up only 5% of an iPhone 6's costs, even though adding more memory can add $100-200 to an iPhone's price. The chart below presents component costs for iPhones from the 2008 iPhone 3G to last year's iPhone 6.
The 100% stacked bar chart allows for comparison of cost or revenue breakdown across products or over time (in this case both). Since my focus was on the cost of the latest iPhones and how costs changed over time, I presented segment percentage values for only the last bar in the chart. In addition, the data row presents average percentage change in costs from one model to the next. The legends explain each cost components and are aligned with both the last bar and the average change data row. Here is the chart in SlideShare to download and edit using our Mekko Graphics software:
