Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has famously said that he had seen many iPhone teardowns or bill-of-materials (BOM) estimates, but nothing was even close to what it really costs to concoct, develop and assemble one unit in total costs over time. Still, even if we assume 30% extra costs over the $390 in components and assembly that go into an iPhone XS Max, for instance, that still leaves Apple a healthy margin which has propelled it to the world’s richest company status.
