So you thought the iPhone's insanely high price tag is due to all the fancy technology inside? Not so, my friend. That touchscreen that everyone is popping tents over only costs $33.50, with the touchscreen controller adding a mere $1.15 to the price. In fact, Apple stands to make a healthy 50% profit on both versions of the iPhone sold, with the costs of the 4- and 8-gig models only running $245.83 and $280.83, respectively.
All that profit and we're still forced to sign our lives away to Cingular AT&T for 2 years for the privilege of buying this phone. If it's not being subsidized, why the hell are we still forced to sign a contract? Weak, very weak.
Check the full cost breakdown of both iPhone models after the jump.
Apple to see near 50% gross margin on each iPhone sale [Apple Insider]