

How much of an iPhone is made by Samsung? - friism
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/08/apple-and-samsungs-symbiotic-relationship

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mrweasel
As clever as that iPhone based "diagram" is, it's more or less impossible to
read.

What was the problem in making a table saying: These are the components
comprising the iPhone and they cost and manufacturer.

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bruceboughton
This diagram would be instantly forgettable as a table. In this form it's far
more likely to reach a wider audience and make an impact.

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wdewind
The diagram would be forgettable, the information would not. It's like saying
if you don't use webdings no one will remember your blog post because it just
uses a "legible" font. They, and you, are focusing on the wrong thing. Read
you some Tufte.

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ars
"concentrate on its strengths: designing elegant, easy-to-use combinations of
hardware, software and services."

How does Apple manage to get journalists to advertise for it?

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untog
Is it a disputed fact that Apple creates elegant, easy to use combinations of
hardware, software and services?

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mrich
I hate iTunes and Quicktime with a passion and don't consider them to be user
friendly, but then again I'm a Windows user, so maybe it's my fault.

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fredoliveira
It's not your fault - back in the late 90s when I came to light side I hated
iTunes too. It's clearly stockholm syndrome - I deal with it because I've
grown used to the way it does things. It isn't bad, but it does take getting
used to.

Quicktime, well, I can't see why you'd hate it (except for maybe that it
probably sucks on windows) - it's actually amazing on the mac. Lightweight,
fast, everything a user needs and nothing else.

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jonhohle
Not to be pedantic, but iTunes wasn't released until 2001.

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balsam
My impression, will someone please assure me (--are there any good antonyms of
"assure" in this context?--), is that Apple is slowly switching to TI for the
parts that Samsung is now supplying.

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petermonsson
TI neither makes Flash nor DRAM nor acts as a foundry service. There is no way
that TI can take a single slot from Samsung.

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hop
Does mechanical & electro-mechanicals cover the machined steel
band/antenna/frame? Because that's not cheap and it's a difficult material to
work with. In one of the iPhone4 original videos, they had a multi-axis CNC
going around outside and grinding/polishing it down, which was pretty
impressive for a mass produced part.

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petermonsson
I think that you can count on that. A leading edge semiconductor plant is
probably the most expensive factory you can buy. I think I have heard
somewhere around $4b for a 28nm line +/- a tech node. Compare that to $0.5b
for an automobile line with a bunch of multiple axis heavy duty CNC machines
(I know, citation needed).

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hop
That's a good point. My thinking was chip prices are pretty well known and
commotitized while Apple's manufacture of the case is a big unknown to iSupply
and everyone else because it's completely custom and no one makes anything
similar.

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petermonsson
Chip prices change a lot depending on who you are (what you can negotiate and
how much you want to buy). Apple is in a very special position as they have
few products and a tendency to buy a part of their suppliers machines in
exchange for guaranteed shipments and lower prices. The isupply table
[http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iPhone-4-Carries...](http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iPhone-4-Carries-
Bill-of-Materials-of-187-51-According-to-iSuppli.aspx) shows pretty different
prices even for Apples own A4 which should have a flat factory cost. As for
the mechanical components, I guess that the 10.80 figure is a decent
guesstimate which could be off by +/- 50%.

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awongh
Did anyone else notice that they seem to be saying that foxcon makes 100%
profit? It costs them $7 to manufacture everything, and they get a $7 profit.
Is that right?

