How Much Does it Cost Apple to Build the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus?

PhilSynowiec · Sep 23, 2014

Over the years, Apple has continued to make its profit margins better and better almost every year. Although Apple doesn't share this information with the public, organizations like IHS iSuppli routinely do a tear down of new Apple devices, estimating manufacturing cost and profit margins for Apple.IHS iSuppli (via Re/code) is back this year for yet another teardown, time with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

According to IHS, the cost for Apple to manufacture the baseline 16GB iPhone 6 is $200, giving apple about a 69 percent profit margin. The firm notes that Apple earns slightly higher profit margins with iPhone 6 models with higher-capacity. The 128GB iPhone 6 for example is estimated to cost Apple $47 more to produce, however the device retails for $200 more.

"The margins are in line with more recent iPhone models but higher than the earliest ones. The gross margin on the iPhone 5, released in 2012, and the iPhone 5s, released last year, were about 69 percent, teardown studies at the time of their release showed. On the lower-priced iPhone 5c, also released in 2012, the gross margin was closer to 68 percent. By comparison, the gross margin on the very first iPhone, released in 2007, was closer to 55 percent."

Another interesting thing IHS iSuppli pointed out is that the iPhone 6 Plus only costs Apple about $16 more than the the iPhone 6 counterpart. This includes half the difference coming from the screen, then going on to things like the optical image stabilizer, larger battery, and other minor changes.