Report: G1 costs 10 percent less to make than iPhone
Update: 4 p.m. Wednesday: Let's get this G1 cost thing straight, shall we? Writer Matt Hickey clarifies some of the points he made in the post below and thanks readers for their feedback. This post was also altered to reflect the correct retail price for the G1.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)When it comes to the next-gen phone wars, two handsets immediately come to mind: Apple's iPhone and the G1 from HTC and T-Mobile, the first commercially available phone to run Google's Android OS.
The G1 retails to new customers for $179, while the basic-model iPhone goes for for $199. Despite those numbers, DowJones, CNN, and iSuppli have discovered, via a virtual teardown, that the G1 is actually 10 percent cheaper per unit to manufacture than Apple's offering, something smug iPhone users are sure to love.
It costs HTC $144 to make a single G1, whereas the iPhone costs $160 each. What's not explained is why the G1 sells for twice the cost of the popular iPhone. It could be the 3-megapixel camera or hardware keypad, but the general lack of internal memory (the G1 has 1GB removable, the iPhone has 16GB internal) counters that. Keep in mind that the costs mentioned previously don't factor in things like marketing and R&D.
While this information probably won't change anybody's buying decision, it's still interesting to see exactly how much of your purchase is subsidized by the carrier and how much is just pure profit.
With more than 15 years experience testing hardware (and being obsessed with it), Crave freelance writer Matt Hickey can tell the good gadgets from the great. He also has a keen eye for future technology trends. Matt has blogged for publications including TechCrunch, CrunchGear, and most recently, Gizmodo. E-mail Matt.
Your post, it needs to be fixed. Fix it!
"Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT) T-Mobile USA subsidiary currently sells the G1 for $179, while AT&T Inc. (T) offers the eight-gigabyte iPhone for $199."
It's fine if you don't know the price off hand, but I have no freaking idea where you came up with the $399 number.
how much u got paid to talk such a crap?
How in the world did this guy get an article onto CNET? He is completely clueless about the G1. Even the most basic Google search will tell you everything you would need to know to write this article correctly.
I'm giving you a D- instead of an F only because you got the pricing right on the internal hardware. Please go back to school. Thanks.
Your comparing the unsubsidized G1 cost to the subsidized Iphone cost.
I can't believe CNET publishes someone blog that is so misleading.
Is there an editor i can contact and report this blog?
How can you legitimately compare pricing of phones with and without contracts....wow, this guys an idiot.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam
Puppies are okay. Haven't verified kitties though
T-mobile, Google, and HTC should sue CNET for slander. Honestly how can disinformation remain on this web page for this long?
This dis-information may actually cost the companies above Money.
Good luck CNET....
A type of defamation. Slander is an untruthful oral (spoken) statement about a person that harms the person's reputation or standing in the community. Because slander is a tort (a civil wrong), the injured person can bring a lawsuit against the person who made the false statement. If the statement is made via broadcast media -- for example, over the radio or on TV -- it is considered libel, rather than slander, because the statement has the potential to reach a very wide audience.
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by checodaman
November 13, 2008 8:38 AM PST
- The article still makes no sense at all. They both mark up their phones approx 24~25% from the value you give. How is this a story at all???
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Reply to this comment
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(23 Comments)If the article is fixed how is this still in there:
"What's not explained is why the G1 sells for twice the cost of the popular iPhone"
Cmon and just take down the article. It's *STILL* completely incorrect.