It is inevitable that the mobile phones of major giants will be disassembled when they are released. It is also inevitable that the BOM (materials) cost will be exposed. The iPhone 12 has not escaped such a fate.
Recently, Japanese research company Fomalhaut Techno Solutions conducted a disassembly analysis of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. After analysis, they believe that the material cost of iPhone 12 is US$373, equivalent to RMB 2,454, while the material cost of iPhone 12 Pro is US$406, equivalent to RMB 2,671.
Specifically, Samsung OLED screen and driver chip are $70 (461 yuan), Apple A14 processor is $40 (263 yuan), SK Hynix DRAM memory and Samsung flash memory are $32 (211 yuan) Yuan), Sony CMOS is 8 US dollars (53 Yuan), Murata and Taiyo Yuden capacitors are about several US dollars.
Among them, Korean parts accounted for 26.8, European parts accounted for 21.9, American parts accounted for 21.9, Mainland China and Taiwan parts accounted for 15.7, and Japanese parts accounted for 13.6.
In fact, there is no problem in terms of BOM cost, but you must know that in terms of Apple’s pricing, the starting price of iPhone 12 is US$799 (5256 yuan), and the iPhone 12 Pro is US$999 (6572 yuan). yuan), the difference between the two is as much as 200 US dollars (1,316 yuan), but the material cost difference between the two products is only 33 US dollars (217 yuan).
After excluding material costs, the remaining price of iPhone 12 is US$426 (2803 yuan), and the iPhone 12 Pro is US$593 (3901 yuan). Even after removing material costs, the difference is still $167 (1,099 yuan), so this has sparked controversy.
On the other hand, the prices of iPhone 12 in China are 6299 yuan (64GB), 6799 yuan (128GB) and 7599 yuan (256GB); the prices of iPhone 12 Pro in China are 8499 yuan (128GB) and 9299 yuan. (256GB), 11,099 yuan (512GB); the national price of iPhone 12 Pro Max is 9,299 yuan (128GB), 10,099 yuan (256GB), 11,899 yuan (512GB).
Techsights, another analysis agency, also conducted a round of disassembly and estimation of an iPhone 12 Pro 512GB. According to their estimation, the material cost is approximately US$514 (3380 yuan), which is relatively higher. Some, but the premium is also very high.
The material cost of an iPhone 11 Pro dismantled by Techsights last year was approximately US$469 (3,085 yuan), which was a US$45 (296 yuan) difference from the iPhone 12 Pro. This is because the iPhone 12 not only has a 5G external baseband, but the processor is also an A14 processor with a 5nm process.
At the same time, the BOM material cost of the iPhone 11 Pro Max (512GB version) is US$490.5, which is approximately RMB 3,493, which is less than 1/3 of the National Bank version’s price of RMB 12,699.
Some media commented after the news broke that Apple earned nearly 4,000 yuan for every iPhone 12 Pro sold, which is equivalent to 2,803 yuan for the iPhone 12.
As a mobile phone giant, Apple has never escaped the fate of being dismantled. In the first half of the year, the iPhone SE launched by iPhone sold like crazy as soon as it was released.
After dismantling the new iPhone SE, some analysts found that the BOM cost of this new phone will not exceed 1,500 yuan, and its price of 3,299 yuan compared to this cost price, there is still a lot of room for price reduction. .
Therefore, supply chain sources believe that according to Apple's practice of maintaining gross profit around 20, there is the possibility of continued price cuts for this phone so that Apple can gain more market share. Afterwards, under the promotion of various domestic e-commerce platforms, the price of iPhone SE continued to hit the "lower limit", which made people call it "really delicious".
In addition to Apple, Xiaomi has not escaped the fate of being dismantled. According to the disassembly analysis of the analysis agency techinsights, the BOM (Bill of Material) of Xiaomi 10 (12GB 256GB, top version) The value is approximately US$440 (approximately RMB 3,088).
However, this result can’t help but make netizens say that Lei Jun’s previous talk of “making friends” was a lie, because at the cost of 3088, the price is 4699 yuan.
In fact, the BOM cost reflects only part of the cost. The cost also includes: component procurement costs, various taxes, foundry processing fees, production losses, R&D costs, after-sales, sales costs, Qualcomm patents fees, company operating costs, etc.
Lei Jun had previously issued a long drawing to clarify, so relying solely on BOM cost does not make sense. Lei Jun emphasized that the investment in making a high-end flagship phone is very large, and Xiaomi Mi 10, which sells for 3,999 yuan, is really making friends.
After comparison, the material cost ratio of iPhone 12 is about 46.7, the material cost ratio of iPhone 12 Pro is about 40.6, and the material cost ratio of Xiaomi 10 is about 65.7. In comparison, Xiaomi is indeed much more cost-effective.
Behind the glorious launch of a mobile phone is a huge investment. Yu Chengdong once said in an interview that the research and development of Huawei's Mate40 series lasted for three years, with an investment of US$560 million, equivalent to RMB 3.7 billion, and the 3.7 billion R&D expenses did not include the 5nm Kirin 9000 chip.
Looking at the entire market, Apple's gross profit margin has always been very high. Historically, it has basically remained around 40, followed by Samsung, which is about 17. Lei Jun once said that Xiaomi’s gross profit margin has remained at 8-9.
The author believes that for high-end flagship phones, the general upfront costs including R&D, procurement, production losses, patent fees, value-added tax, etc. are much higher than the material costs, so it is normal for the premium to be too high purely from a BOM perspective. . However, it should be noted that market pricing has always been a game. High-end products have always been packaged at high prices. Psychologically speaking, low prices will give people the illusion of reduced quality. The price of high-end products generally drops sharply after the next generation of products appears, which is a signal of early cost recovery.
Good ecology and reputation can indeed make consumers more willing to buy corresponding products. What do you think of mobile phone manufacturers’ pricing?
Produced by 21ic China Electronics Network Fu Bin