I'm actually gonna say that the estimate was way too high. Especially given the margins of difference given between the different flash sizes. They suggest that the difference between 16GB and 32GB is $29.50US, and twice that, $59.00US, to go from 32 to 64. In other words, they're suggesting the chips are costing Apple ~$1.85US per gigabyte. ($118US for 64GB) That's the price you'd typically pay (or perhaps a little less) for a full flash product with controller, packaging, interface, etc; you'd be looking at the range of $130-150US or so for a 64GB flash drive or SSD.
Obviously, Apple isn't even buying SSDs; they're buying the flash chips and packaging them onto the motherboard themselves. And they're not buying them individually, with packaging and all; they're buying them in trays, packed into pallettes, like other OEMS do; they do it by the thousand. So a more reasonable estimate is that they'd be paying closer to $50US for 64GB, or less.
However, I can see the cost of the touchscreen. (it's ALWAYS been the most expensive part of portable electronics) Similarly, their estimate for the A4 sounds about right for an embedded logic chip of that size. I'd estimate that Apple spends maybe $60-100US for the circuit board and its contents, (depending on flash size) $20US for the battery, $10US for the other internal parts, (like the antennae) $95US for the screen, and $15US for the frame/casing.
So all told, I'd estimate perhaps $190US for the 16GB version, $205US for the 32GB version, and $230US for the 64GB version. 3G support would likely add in another $10-20US or so in hardware costs. So, for the non-3G versions, you're looking at respective cost ratios of 38.0%, 34.2%, and 32.9% respectively.
[citation][nom]kingnoobe[/nom]LOL do people do realize this very much a normal markup. Quit acting like apple is evil, because in this case their no different then any other company.[/citation]
Actually, that markup's a bit high for a high-profile piece of consumer electronics. ESPECIALLY upon launch, as those costs do not take into account economies of scale and miniaturization, both of which ensure the production cost will CONSTANTLY drop for Apple as they make and sell more.
Microsoft applied this with their Xbox 360; when it launched, they LOST MONEY on what they sold. Though with later cost reductions due to scale and miniaturization, the costs came down under the price they sold 'em at. Sony's done the same thing with the PS3. (actually, I still dunno if they're making a profit on the hardware itself)
And no, this applies to Apple as well; not only do they sell the hardware, but they ALSO make a killing in their cuts in downloaded aps, as well as the fact that they intend to charge for OS upgrades for this thing.
It's the simple matter of fact: Apple has higher markup than their competition. It shows when you compare their products to their competitors'; comparable ones are much cheaper (like Freescale's proposed tablet) and comparable-priced ones offer superior capabilities. (like Slate or CrunchPad) This applies to their other products, too; iPods ALWAYS cost more than otherwise-equal music players by other people.
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