Samsung is the most expensive smartphone brand to build a unit, an research analysis reported today. Accordingly, Samsung has spent more dollars in each Galaxy S6 Edge model than any other iPhone model.
Research firm IHS found out that how much it charges for Samsung to build every Galaxy S6 Edge. The distinctive curved screen alone, which Samsung has been hugely commended for, is the most expensive in terms of manufacturing expenditures.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge's bill of material (BOM) beats a record level at $290 for the 64GB version made for mobile carrier Verizon Wireless. This comprises parts and assembly only, excluding the R&D costs or the amount spent on marketing, distribution and software.
The curved screen with the touchscreen costs $85. The Exynos 7420 SoC costs around $29.50 while Verizon's version of Galaxy S6 Edge uses a $15 Qualcomm baseband chip. The 3GB of DDR4 RAM is pegged at $27, while the 64GB of flash storage costs $25.
The Galaxy S6 Edge is the first smartphone to use the Exynos 7420 SoC, a chip build on a 14nm manufacturing technology of Intel. It enables packing of more computing power in a smaller space compared to previous chip generations. Apple is reported to use the same chip technology for its upcoming iPhone device.
Meaningfully, Galaxy S6 Edge is more expensive to build than Apple's current flagship smartphones. The iPhone 6 has a BOM of $247 while iPhone 6 Plus has a BOM of $263. According to IHS' Andrew Rossweiler, the cost of components among smartphone devices in the industry has been constantly rising in the past few years.
"Samsung is clearly studying Apple's playbook by using things like metal enclosures and other design choices that are similar to Apple's. The bottom line is that this phone costs less than an iPhone to buy, but it costs Samsung more to build," said Rossweiler.
Even Samsung's Galaxy S5 costs around $256 to manufacture, while the Galaxy S4 costs around $244.
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