Apple X Margins Top iPhone 8

Although it is more expensive to produce, Apple’s new iPhone X makes the company more money per phone than its iPhone 8 model.

Reuters reported that while the iPhone X’s parts cost Apple 25 percent more than the iPhone 8, it retailed 43 percent higher.

According to TechInsights, a firm that analyzes the parts that make up technology devices, the iPhone X costs $357.50 to make and sells for $999, giving it a gross margin of 64 percent. The iPhone 8 sells for $699 and has a gross margin of 59 percent.

The analysis found that several of Apple’s design choices for the iPhone X boosted its price, including its 5.8-inch (14.8 cm) edge-to-edge display and associated parts, which cost $65.50. The iPhone 8’s 4.7-inch display costs $36.

In addition, the iPhone X features a stainless-steel chassis, which costs $36 compared to the $21.50 for the aluminum housing of the iPhone 8. The analysts pointed out that the steel is less likely than aluminum to bend when flexed, which was a problem for the iPhone 6.

Al Cowsky, the costing analyst for TechInsights, noted that Apple is able to charge a premium price for its latest devices, as well as maintain that price even when selling devices through third parties.

“Apple can be different here because they are the 800-pound gorilla,” Cowsky said.

And the company already seems to have a hit on its hands with the iPhone X. Wait times in the U.S. rapidly stretched past five weeks shipping time for online preorders, while Hong Kong ran out less than half an hour after purchases began. French customers are also reporting wait times of three or four weeks, as is most of Europe. In Japan, Australia and China, shipping times extended to as much as five or six weeks.