Samsung is spending US$379.5 to produce a Galaxy S9+
Launched at the end of February, Samsung’s Galaxy S9/S9+ smartphones are just starting to hit stores worldwide. According to the US Samsung store, the S9 is priced at US$720, while the S9+ is selling for US$840, but what are the actual production costs for these models? TechInsights analyzed the components of the latest Galaxy smartphones and compared the production costs of the S9+ to other devices like the IPhone X/iPhone 8+ or the company’s previous Galaxy S8+/Note 8. Prices for each device were calculated at launch date, so the comparison does not take into account any component price drops that may have occurred meanwhile.
The component by component chart reveals that the S9+ is the most expensive Samsung smartphone ever to be produced, with a total cost of goods sold maxing out at US$379.5, while the Note 8 cost US$369 and the S8+ only US$343. Still, the S9+ is US$10 less expensive than the iPhone X, whereas the iPhone 8+ is the less expansive device among the compared models, with a production cost of US$324.5.
Looking at the most expensive components of the Galaxy S9+, the AMOLED display costs US$72.5, the Exynos 9810 SoC is US$67 and the camera setup only US$48. Deducting the production cost from the MSRP, it appears that Samsung gets back US$460.5, which represents R&D, marketing, distribution/tax costs, plus an unknown profit percentage.
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