At an estimated $US310, the new iPad is likely Apple’s most expensive iPad to date from a manufacturing standpoint. But because their retail pricing stays fixed, it means that that rise in cost will cut into their profit margins. But don’t feel too bad for Apple, since they’re still netting somewhere around 50 per cent of the profits.
The original iPad only cost $US270 to manufacture at its release and the iPad 2 cost $US276. So where is this latest iPad packing its extra $US35? According to an UBM analyst report posted by AppleInsider, most of the increase can be attributed to the insane-balls Retina display, bigger battery and LTE guts. And considering that this refresh will likely gain Apple oodles of new converts, I’d say that’s $US35 well spent. [AppleInsider]