As the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge start to penetrate the smartphone ecosystem, more information surfaces about the devices every day. We've seen benchmarks, teardowns and camera samples surface, all of which show how much thought Samsung has put in its 2016 flagship smartphones. In addition, given that they're flagships, both the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge come with price tags much higher than your average smartphone.
Today, some details have surfaced related to an IHS teardown which tells us just exactly how much it takes for Samsung to to build the Galaxy S7; in terms of direct material costs. So if you're curious, head over below to find out more.
Samsung's Galaxy S7 Costs $255 In Terms Of Parts; Snapdragon 820 The Most Expensive Component
Given the popularity of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, a lot of folks out there are quite eager to learn more about the devices, particularly those who have a smartphone upgrade overdue. So to start, the Samsung Galaxy S7 comes with a price tag of $670, something which isn't surprising, given the premium nature of the device.
Folks over at IHS have carried out their annual teardown on Samsung's device and have managed to come up with a number w.r.t the raw material costs of the flagship smartphone. In terms of component costs, the Samsung Galaxy S7 costs the Korean manufacturer $255 to manufacture, which translates to $415 of value added to these components if you contrast it with the price tag here in the US.
An interesting point to note when it comes to this cost is that it took Samsung almost a similar amount to build the Galaxy S5; a fact that tells us quite a lot about smartphone component prices over the pat couple of years. The most expensive component of the Galaxy S7, surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) is the Snapdragon 820, which comes with a price tag of $62.
The dual-pixel, 12MP camera sensor on the device, which signals a much different approach by Samsung towards photography this year costs $13.70. Rather than simply pile on more pixels this year, a long held tradition at Samsung for quite a while, the Korean manufacturing giant instead chose to decrease the resolution and increase the amount of pixels on the Galaxy S7; something which adds quite a bit to the low light photographic capabilities of the device.
Of course, it costs more than $255 in terms of overall costs for Samsung to manufacture the device, but just goes to show how high margins can go when it comes to flagship smartphones. A similar teardown for the iPhone 6s last year showed us that it costs Apple $234 to manufacture the smartphone, which is in the same ballpark. Thoughts? Let us know what you think in the comments section below and stay tuned for the latest.
