Apple’s iPad costs as little as $259.60 to build, according to analysis by iSuppli.
Materials for the iPad, which went on sale April 3, includes a touchscreen display that costs $95 and a $26.80 processor designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung, reports iSuppli.
ISuppli’s analysis means that the components of the lowest-priced iPad, which includes 16 GB of memory, constitute 52% of its $499 retail price, on par with other Apple products including the iPhone 3GS. The $599 version with 32 gigabytes of data costs $289.10 to make, and the 64-gigabyte model that sells for $699 costs $384.10 to make, according to iSuppli.
Broadcom is the supplier for a $8.05 chip that combines both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless data radios, as well as two touchscreen-related chips for another $3.70. Texas Instruments makes the $1.80 chip used to control the touchscreen, and Cirrus Logic makes a $1.20 audio chip.
The company had earlier predicted the iPad would cost Apple between $229 and $346 in materials and manufacturing costs, giving the company plenty of room to cut prices.
iFixit published its iPad teardown earlier. The Broadcom BCM4329 chip integrates a complete IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n system (MAC/baseband/radio) with Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and FM radio receiver and transmitter. It’s the same Broadcom BCM4329 chip in the iPhone 3GS and newest iPod touches, as well as Google’s Nexus One.
The ability to send information through FM radio could (theoretically) be used to broadcast sound into car stereos. With the FM receiver, users could also get real-time traffic information as well as music, news, and sports broadcasts on their mobile devices. Those features are not currently available on the iPad, however.
The Broadcom 4329 chip sticks with single-stream transmission to conserve battery life — no MIMO — so strictly speaking it shouldn’t be called “802.11n“. Products using 1×1 single spatial stream incorporate benefits of the 802.11n standard such as channel bonding and packet aggregation, but lower power draw with only one radio. The antenna is behind the Apple logo.
“Single stream 802.11n can give up to 50mbps of real throughput,” said Chris Bergey, director of Broadcom’s embedded wireless line of business.
