Re/code reports today on IHS’s teardown analysis of the iPad Air 2, which reveals that it cost almost the same to make as did the original iPad Air, which was released last year.
As far as the base model, the 16 GB Wi-Fi-only version, which retails for $499, IHS found that it cost $275 to make, which is just one meagre dollar more than the first iPad Air cost to make.
At the other end of the scale, the top-of-the-range 128GB LTE model retails for $829 and costs $358 to make.
But while the manufacturing costs are all-but identical to those of the first iPad Air, IHS says that Apple’s implied profit margin on the tablet has fallen slightly, down to 45% to 57% (depending on the model) from the original’s implied profit margin of 45% to 61%.
“Overall what we’re seeing is a series of refinements from iPad Air 1, nothing earth-shattering at all. But that’s par for Apple’s course,” said IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler.
Source: Re/code
