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Michael considered fate at 16:00   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

Everyone likes to talk about how great the iPod has been for Apple, but has it? Oh yes it has:

Market research firm iSuppli set out to [figure out Apple's profit margin on the iPod Nano] by buying the $199 2-gigabyte version of the Nano and tearing it apart. The verdict? It costs Apple $90.18 in materials to build the unit and $8 to assemble it, leaving a profit margin before marketing and distribution costs of about 50%. That's consistent with the margins on earlier iPod versions and serves as a reminder of what a profit machine the iPod family of products has become for Apple since it was introduced in 2001...

Apple has sold some 16 million iPods in the first nine months of fiscal 2005, and 21 million since its inception. Thus far in fiscal 2005, the iPod has brought in $2.6 billion in revenue, accounting for about 25% of Apple's total. [my emphasis]