Nokia Lumia 900 costs $217 to make
updated 06:45 pm EDT, Wed April 11, 2012
Lumia 900 raw costs 2x ATT contract selling price
A preliminary estimate by IHS iSuppli puts the base manufactured cost of the new Nokia Lumia 900 at $217. This would translate to a reasonable margin for AT&T if it were to sell it for its listed $450 non-contract price, but a significant loss at its planned contract price is $100.
The teardown by IHS iSuppli calculated material costs of $209 and manufacturing costs of an additional $8, for a total of the $217. This doesn't, however include any material transportation costs. It also does not reflect any marketing costs. Estimates for advertising and promotion of the Windows Phone, which included big launch events in New York and London Friday night could top $150 million, although this has since been called into dispute.
The cost is actually higher than that of an iPhone 4S and shows that the LTE and larger screen offset whatever cost savings Nokia might get from the slower 1.4GHz Snapdragon and other cheaper parts.
AT&T began initial shipments of units of the phone to pre-order customers last week. The Lumia 900 provides a 4.3-inch Pentile AMOLED screen and is powered by a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The camera shoots at eight megapixels with an f2.2 lens.
