According to a virtual teardown conducted by the IHS iSuppli Mobile Handset Cost Model Service, the new Samsung Galaxy S4 has a bill of materials cost of appx. US$236.
That’s up by $31 from Samsung’s last model in the family, the S3, and iSuppli primarily attributes the increase to major upgrades to the display, sensor, application processor and supporting memory. When manufacturing costs of US$8.50 are added, iSuppli puts the cost of the HPSA+ version of the Galaxy S4 at $244.
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“Although its hardware is not radically different from the Galaxy S III introduced in April of 2012, the Samsung Galaxy S4 includes some critical component updates that enhance its functionality as well as its BOM cost,” said Vincent Leung, senior analyst for cost benchmarking at HIS, in a statement. “Among the upgrades are a larger, full high-definition display; a beefed-up Samsung processor; and a wealth of new sensors that set a record high for the number of such devices in a smartphone design. And despite the larger display and other changes, the Galaxy S4 has roughly the same width and the same ease of handling as the Galaxy S III.”
Source: Samsung Galaxy S4 Carries $236 Bill of Materials, IHS iSuppli Virtual Teardown Reveals