Teardown Reveals Samsung S5 Costs About US$256 to Build

According to research firm IHS who recently conducted a teardown of Samsung's new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5, it was revealed that the phone costs around US$256 to build. 

The highest costing component is believed to be the display, which is likely to cost around US$63. DRAM and flash memory are supplied by Samsung themselves and are expected to cost around US$33.

Interestingly, the fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S5 costs around US$4, whereas the one found in Apple's iPhone 5S costs more than triple at US$15. However, Apple's iPhone 5S costs less to make overall, just around US$199.

This means that with a selling price of around US$660, Samsung makes about US$400 on each Galaxy S5, giving it a gross profit margin of about 60%.

However, it must be noted that the US$256 price stated here does not include the cost of software, distribution and marketing, which means the actual profit margin is even lower.

Source: Re/code

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