The Guts of a Nexus One Cost $174.15

It didn't take long for various websites to tear apart Google's Nexus One just to see what was inside. iFixit posted a tear-down video so we could see all the parts for ourselves and now iSupply has priced all the components to come up with an overall cost of parts for the device.

Just as a quick reminder, Google is selling the device through T-Mobile for $179. That's thanks to a massive subsidy from T-Mobile though, as purchasing the device direct from Google will cost you a wallet-rattling $529. You don't need us to tell you that that's a lot of money for a cell phone.

So just how much does it cost Google to build a Nexus One? According to iSupply, the Bill of Materials (BOM) comes to $174.15. Put your eyes back in your head for a moment and consider that this price does not include other expenses such as manufacturing, software, box contents, accessories and royalties.

You can read all about the different components in a Nexus One here.

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21 Comments Comment from the forums

mattfoo2324

I would be really interested to see how much profit Google is making per phone. With manufacturing, software, royalties, there is no way that adds up to even $450. Google must be making a killing on each phone. Correct me if I'm wrong, of course.
Reply
sliem

I believe that's confidential.

But article said "That's thanks to a massive subsidy from T-Mobile though, as purchasing the device direct from Google will cost you a wallet-rattling $529."
Reply
jarnail24

wow what a ripoff! seriously do they really need a 300% margin. I know the research and the labor and everything but seriously they don't need a 300% margin to recover costs. The only way to make cellphones cheaper is to get rid of carrier subsidies and let the cell phone makers compete in price.
Reply
hakesterman

I don't know why you guys waist your time trying to quesstimate what it costs to produce a device. You
have no idea at what volume they are buying at and therefore a reasonable price can not be achived. Stop
waisting your time and stop missleading people.

Reply
jarnail24

hakestermanI don't know why you guys waist your time trying to quesstimate what it costs to produce a device. Youhave no idea at what volume they are buying at and therefore a reasonable price can not be achived. Stopwaisting your time and stop missleading people. so what your saying is it's even cheaper than the estimate. wouldn't that mean it's a bigger ripoff?
Reply
rembo666

Good point. This is just the cost of the components. What about the R&D and manufacturing? R&D is usually the main reason new devices cost a lot at first and then drop in price...
Reply
eyemaster

Read correctly people... 174$ in parts. It does not involve research, software, support, packaging and all other extras. The phone is but a piece in the whole system. There's more to selling this kind of hardware than just the pieces itself.
Reply
theholylancer

anyone whom taken computer engineering would know that it is 3x-4x the cost of the raw material that manufs aim for when a product hits the market, which will cover r&d of software and hardware, support, updates and other things for the life of the device.
Reply
Raid3r

eyemaster ..you sound like the RIAA (its more than a plastic disk). Give it up.
Reply
cjl

Raid3reyemaster ..you sound like the RIAA (its more than a plastic disk). Give it up.The problem with the statement to "give it up" is that he's right. You can't sell something for a tiny margin and expect to make money. Engineers cost a lot, and manufacturing adds a significant cost as well.
Reply

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