BusinessWeek has managed to get its hands on a teardown of the BlackBerry Bold and it looks like RIM has yet another reason to be upset about the ever-delayed AT&T release: huge margins. While the Bold is currently available in many markets around the world, RIM’s largest market, the US, is still in limbo. New information suggests that said delays may be costing RIM more money than we think. Self-proclaimed market intelligence firm iSuppli is known for pretty spot-on teardown analyses and after picking apart RIM’s Bold it came up with a number: $169.41. That number represents RIM’s estimated cost per unit from material sourcing to manufacturing to assembly. By comparison, iSuppli estimates Apple’s cost per unit of the iPhone 3G to be $174.33 which would make the likelihood of a competitive AT&T-subsidized price on the Bold very likely. Prior estimates had placed RIM’s cost on the Bold at a higher figure which lead to a bit of speculation that AT&T’s Bold pricing might come in a bit high for certain potential customers. Hopefully this new number is closer to reality and we can all hope for a contract price right around $200.
BW uncovers BlackBerry Bold teardown; hello profit margin
Updated Dec 19th, 2018 6:06PM EST
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Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.
His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.
