Just because something is built with plastic doesn’t necessarily make it cheap to build. The researchers at IHS on Tuesday released their bill of materials (BOM) estimate for the Galaxy S 4 and found that the HSPA+ version has a BOM of $236 while the LTE version has a BOM of $233. When factoring in an $8.50 cost of labor per device, IHS estimates that the HSPA+ Galaxy S 4 costs around $244 to build while the LTE version costs $241 to build. The reason that the LTE version is cheaper, says IHS, is that it uses a less costly processor than the HSPA+ version. As Business Insider’s Steve Kovach notes, IHS’s Galaxy S 4 manufacturing cost estimate is significantly higher than the $207 manufacturing cost estimate the firm had for Apple’s (AAPL) 16GB iPhone 5.
What ‘cheap build?’ Galaxy S 4 components estimated to cost more than iPhone 5
Updated Apr 4th, 2013 10:36AM EDT
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Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.
