iMacs cost $898 to make?
MacSlash has come across a report from analyst firm iSuppli that claims the materials used to build the latest Intel iMac cost Apple roughly $898. This includes an estimated price of $265/Intel Dual Core chip, which is based on prices from Intel's site that are $294/chip in orders of 1000. The estimate, however, does not include other elements such as the mouse, keyboard or advertising. I won't regurgitate the rest of the price breakdown though, so check it out for yourself.
While I'm no professional analyst, most of the pricing in that report sounds just a little bit high to me. I'm sure Apple is *probably* buying Dual Core chips in batches that are slightly larger than 1000, and $265/chip sounds nuts. Heck, a computer that costs $898 in mere parts (nevermind designing, building, advertising, shipping, etc) that sells for only $1299 sounds pretty nuts to me too, even for a company like Apple who could probably benefit from news like this hitting the streets.
Just in case this report is right, though: that is one expensive computer, and one heck of an expensive chip. Here's hoping this big transition is ultimately worth it.
