iSuppli unfolds inside secrets of Apple iPhone

After deducting the hardware and manufacturing costs, Apple Inc.'s recently launched multifunctional iPhone could deliver a profit margin of more than 55%, an El Segundo, California-based research firm iSuppli Corp. disclosed Tuesday in its report.

In its sensational tear-down analysis of Apple’s revolutionary gadget, the research firm unfolded that the computer maker sells the new iPhone at more than double production costs.

Apple’s iPhone, which was touted as "revolutionary" by Steve Jobs in the keynote speech in January at the Macworld conference, went on sale at 6 p.m. local time Friday (June 29) at Apple and AT&T stores as well as Apple's Web site.

The device is priced at $499 for 4-gigabyte model and $599 for an 8-gigabyte model.

After an examination of the iPhone's components, the research firm iSuppli estimated that the higher model (8GB) of iPhone has component and manufacturing costs of $265.83, which translates into margins of more than 55 percent.

The researcher said that the component suppliers associated with the new gadget are also expected to generate profit from the surging sales of the iPhone.

Theses suppliers include Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG which supplies the digital baseband, radio-frequency transceiver and power-management device for the iPhone and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. which supplies the new gadget's applications processor, as well as the memory chips such as NAND flash and dynamic random access memory widely used in PCs.

CSR PLC and Marvell Technology Group Ltd. supply the Bluetooth silicon and Wi-Fi baseband chips, respectively.

According to iSuppli’s estimates, Infineon's chip content accounts for $15.25 worth of the iphone's bill-of materials, representing 6.1% of the 8-gigabyte version of the product's total cost. However, the biggest winner among the component suppliers for the iPhone is still Samsung.

"Samsung has $76.25 worth of semiconductor content in the 8-gigabyte version of the iPhone, giving the company a 30.5% share of the product's hardware cost - the largest total of any single supplier," iSuppli said.

Apple iPhone’s higher version with 8-gigabye storage, an all-in-one cell phone/iPod/pocket computer that sold out at most of the stores less than a week after its launch, may have helped the device earn as much as $186.1 million in its opening weekend, iSuppli estimates.

After igniting the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II, the Cupertino, California-based Apple reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Continuing with its tendency of revolutions, Apple is leading the industry with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. In digital music segment, it is moving ahead with its iPod portable music players, iTunes online store and its recently launched iPhone.

Apple hopes to revolutionize the mobile market with its multifunctional phone, an all-in one cell phone/iPod/pocket computer, which has such potent qualities that make it potential for revolutionizing the handset industry.

A recent survey conducted by M:Metrics, the mobile market authority, has revealed that people in the United States are ready to spend $599 for this revolutionary Phone, which combines the functions of a cell phone, iPod media player and Web-surfing device.