iPod touch teardown suggests component cost of $147

A recent teardown of the iPod touch by research firm iSuppli suggests that the total cost of components for the 8GB model is $147, or around half of the device’s $299 retail price. iSuppli’s Andrew Rassweiler believes that the iPod touch will likely serve as a blueprint for future iPods, saying, “We expect the click-wheel versions of the iPod to wane in favor of touch-screen-based models.” Inside the 8GB iPod touch, iSuppli found around $32 of flash memory chips, supplied by Toshiba, a Samsung-supplied main video-audio chip costing around $13 (along with an additional $12 worth of memory from the chipmaker), and other chips from suppliers including Broadcom, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments. iSuppli also estimates that the device’s touch screen accounts for nearly $44 of the material cost. Overall, the firm expects sales of the iPod touch to fall in between those of the iPod nano and iPod classic, with Rassweiler saying he expects Apple to sell around 8.5 million touches in the first year.