iPhone 5s costs $191 to make, cheaper than iPhone 5: IHS

While the iPhone 5s includes of new features that set it apart from Apple’s previous model, the actual cost to make the phone hasn’t changes very much, according to a new study.

An IHS Inc. teardown of the new smartphone found that the components make up a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5s (Review) cost $190.70. Manufacturing costs add another $8, bringing the total production cost to $198.70.

In comparison of iPhone 5 that will be hit the market last year ago that costs up to $197 to make.

According to a Andrew Rassaweiler, the IHS director the cost of the benchmarking service has been noted the iPhone 5s includes the extra new features that gives extra functionality to this smartphone, such are 64-bit apps processor and a finger-print identification sensor without any kind of significant jump in the costs of this iPhone.

Also the research firm also dissected a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5c (Review), a cheaper version of the 5s, and put its total production cost at $173.45, including all the manufacturing costs that are $7.

In the last press interview, Rassweiler said the 5c is basically an iPhone 5 wrapped in plastic, nothing that it has basically the same features, but benefits from typical components price drops, along with its cheaper plastic enclose.

The starting price of iPhone 5c is $549, but it will sell for $99 with a two year wireless contract. It’s Apple’s least-expensive iPhone ever and is an effort to boost sales in China and other areas where people don’t have as much money to expend on new gadgets as they do in the U.S. and Europe. But critics have said that the phone is still too expensive to sell well in emerging markets.

IHS said that while I cost substantially less to produce an iPhone 5c than it did an iPhone 5, those costs are still on the high side.

It added that in order to merit the low-end smartphone pricing of $400 that many industry observers had expected while maintaining typical Apple profit margins the company would need to reduce its 5c production to about $130.

Monday Apple reported that it sold 9 million of the two new models since their launch on Friday – its strongest iPhone launch ever – and that demand was exceeding supply.

In midday trading, shares of the Cupertino, Calif., company slipped $5.98 to $483.12.