A recent teardown has revealed the iPad Air 2 comes with more RAM, a better processor but smaller battery than its predecessor, and now a second disassemble operation explores the impact on the 9.7 incher’s production costs.
It should come as no surprise by now Apple builds its iGear on the cheap, and sells it for a premium. Cupertino’s hefty profit margins are well documented for years, and not even the biggest upgrades in iPhone history can change the status quo.
The fact of the matter is Tim Cook & co. always find a way to stay rich and relevant in the tech décor. Either they rehash old devices and present them as new, improved and upgraded, or use better components that cost as much as their ancestors due to the passing of time.
If need be, they can always up their ask and crank up the marketing, as is the case of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. As far as the iPad Air 2 is concerned, you don’t have to be an expert to tell fairly little of importance has changed.
But if you want experts to testify to that, analysis firm IHS has your back. On the heels of iFixit’s brutal teardown, they’ve also taken the “updated” Air 2 apart, finding nothing all too surprising or expensive among the guts of the iMachine.
Sure, you have 2 GB LPDDR 3 RAM now instead of 1 gig, but the memory merely costs Cupertino $18. For crying out loud then, why didn’t they make the move earlier? Greed, we presume, the same reason they barely added anti-reflective coating to the 2,048 x 1,536 pix res display borrowed from the first-gen Air.
Mind you, the IPS LCD panel remains the priciest iPad component, at an estimated $77, plus $38 for the touchscreen. The A8X processor is appraised at $22, the dual cameras an uber-low $11, user interface and sensors command a source price of $22, and the battery is $15.
Add a few extra trinkets in the equation, and you get a total bill of $275 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi-only version, including $5 for actual manufacturing. The tablet has a retail price tag of $499, so the gross profit circles $225.
Of course, as we move up the iPad Air 2 ladder, we find even greater margins, with the 128 GB cellular flavor going for $829 in stores, and costing Apple roughly $352 to make. You do the math, I can’t handle such whopping figures.
Ironically, the “entry-level” Air 2 is a buck more expensive for Cupertino to produce, commanding the exact same starting retail price as its predecessor back in the day. So technically, the profit margins have narrowed. Yeah, well, they’re still lighting their Cubans with hundred-dollar bills.
Source: Cnet
Read More: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ipads-st...275/83196.html
It should come as no surprise by now Apple builds its iGear on the cheap, and sells it for a premium. Cupertino’s hefty profit margins are well documented for years, and not even the biggest upgrades in iPhone history can change the status quo.
The fact of the matter is Tim Cook & co. always find a way to stay rich and relevant in the tech décor. Either they rehash old devices and present them as new, improved and upgraded, or use better components that cost as much as their ancestors due to the passing of time.
If need be, they can always up their ask and crank up the marketing, as is the case of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. As far as the iPad Air 2 is concerned, you don’t have to be an expert to tell fairly little of importance has changed.
But if you want experts to testify to that, analysis firm IHS has your back. On the heels of iFixit’s brutal teardown, they’ve also taken the “updated” Air 2 apart, finding nothing all too surprising or expensive among the guts of the iMachine.
Sure, you have 2 GB LPDDR 3 RAM now instead of 1 gig, but the memory merely costs Cupertino $18. For crying out loud then, why didn’t they make the move earlier? Greed, we presume, the same reason they barely added anti-reflective coating to the 2,048 x 1,536 pix res display borrowed from the first-gen Air.
Mind you, the IPS LCD panel remains the priciest iPad component, at an estimated $77, plus $38 for the touchscreen. The A8X processor is appraised at $22, the dual cameras an uber-low $11, user interface and sensors command a source price of $22, and the battery is $15.
Add a few extra trinkets in the equation, and you get a total bill of $275 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi-only version, including $5 for actual manufacturing. The tablet has a retail price tag of $499, so the gross profit circles $225.
Of course, as we move up the iPad Air 2 ladder, we find even greater margins, with the 128 GB cellular flavor going for $829 in stores, and costing Apple roughly $352 to make. You do the math, I can’t handle such whopping figures.
Ironically, the “entry-level” Air 2 is a buck more expensive for Cupertino to produce, commanding the exact same starting retail price as its predecessor back in the day. So technically, the profit margins have narrowed. Yeah, well, they’re still lighting their Cubans with hundred-dollar bills.
Source: Cnet
Read More: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ipads-st...275/83196.html
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