How much profit does Apple make on its computers?

billybilly
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
How much does each part of an apple computer cost and how much money does Apple profit from each sale. For example, take the G4 dual 1 GHz, how much does the motherboard cost, the processors cost, the hard drive, the disk drive. How much does each component cost? And what is the total cost to produce each unit?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Apple has a margin average of 31%. Or at least they did last quarter. Their margin ranges from 20% on low end models up to well over 30% on some high end models.



    If you go buy developer pricing the dual 1Ghz costs Apple $2399.



    Hope that helps.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    macsrgood4umacsrgood4u Posts: 3,007member
    The G4 Towers and TiBook are the most profitable, the iMac and iBook the least. Current iMac margins will be lower then usual because they are being air freighted fo the US for the time being.



    [ 02-17-2002: Message edited by: MacsRGood4U ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 13
    billybilly Posts: 34member
    Is there any place where I could find out about how much each component costs them? How much does a G4 1 GHz cost? How much is the motherboard? How much does the superdrive cost? BTW, who makes the superdrive for apple?
  • Reply 4 of 13
    corvettecorvette Posts: 561member
    [quote]Originally posted by Billy:

    <strong>BTW, who makes the superdrive for apple?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    panasonic i think
  • Reply 5 of 13
    macsrgood4umacsrgood4u Posts: 3,007member
    You can probably get approximate costs for the items mentioned from varous suppliers (use the internet). However the prices Apple pays for its' components is their secret. Since they cannot buy much of the parts over the counter like some other companies they pay more in some instances. Costs (memory, screens, etc.). change from time to time based on market conditions.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Originally posted by Billy:

    <strong>Is there any place where I could find out about how much each component costs them? How much does a G4 1 GHz cost? How much is the motherboard? How much does the superdrive cost? BTW, who makes the superdrive for apple?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    none of the prices you find will be what apple pays because they buy in such large volume and secure deals with the manufacterers.



    G4 cost= go to motorola's site and they will give you a price in orders of 1000 or more

    motherboard= made by apple so impossible

    superdrive= made by pioneer so go to their site
  • Reply 7 of 13
    codewarriorcodewarrior Posts: 196member
    Remember Apple's cost is more than the cost of components. There is manufacturing costs, labor cost, and R&D costs. In Apple's overall margins of x%, don't forget they are putting software sales in this also. R&D is the major cost for software (manufacturing costs are small). That's why M$ margins are so healthy.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    clonenodeclonenode Posts: 392member
    Plus, realize that you can't put a price on good design.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by corvette:

    <strong>



    panasonic i think</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Close... Pioneer.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Panasonic made the DVD-RAM drives for Apple, and I thnk so did Toshiba for a while.



    What I dislike about the current Apple drives are the yucky trays they use...the plastic piece at the front of the tray is glued there!
  • Reply 11 of 13
    koffedrnkrkoffedrnkr Posts: 170member
    [quote]Originally posted by EmAn:

    <strong>



    Close... Pioneer.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    the original super drive was the pioneer A03. the superdrive in the imac is an updated version, the pioneer A04
  • Reply 12 of 13
    gafferinogafferino Posts: 68member
    [quote]Originally posted by Billy:

    <strong>How much does each part of an apple computer cost and how much money does Apple profit from each sale. For example, take the G4 dual 1 GHz, how much does the motherboard cost, the processors cost, the hard drive, the disk drive. How much does each component cost? And what is the total cost to produce each unit?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I believe the 1 Ghz was listed at $295 USD in 1000 unit purchases in the Moto press release. I played with some component prices and I think the new high end comes in near the 30% profit mark still. But the software and design quality makes it very difficult to compare to OEM PC prices.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    neomacneomac Posts: 145member
    Let's put it this way, Micheal Dell would cut his own nuts off for the profit margins Apple has.



    Apple's margin includes hardware, software, services, and investments - in particular, the returns earned on their $4.5 billion dollars in cash does wonders for their margins.
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