The next generation iPhone X might be cheaper to buy as a report claims it will cost less for Apple to manufacture it, around 10 percent lower, even though it will have upgraded hardware. According to Luke Lin, analyst at Digitimes Research, a 5.85-inch OLED iPhone that is expected to arrive later this year as part of the yearly update, will cost far lower to manufacture than the present iPhone X which costs $400 to produce. The upcoming iPhone will cost $40 less to manufacture, according to the analyst.
However, the analyst’s claim of the cost of manufacturing the iPhone X is higher than the amount speculated in an analysis of installed components that was conducted in November shortly after its release. It was noted, at that time, that the 64GB iPhone X took $357.50 to make, which includes the cost of labour and final assembly of the device.
The analyst claims Apple has managed to reach an agreement with Samsung Display to get ‘satisfactory terms’ for OLED display panels that will keep the costs from rising. Samsung Display, though, was in a better spot for negotiating as Apple reportedly ordered fewer OLED panels than previously committed for the iPhone X.
Furthermore, another Digitimes report claimed Taiwan’s display panel industry is expecting 110 to 130 million OLED panels to be ordered for the iPhone X and other future iPhones in 2018.
Digitimes’ analysis does not describe what other measures Apple and other component vendors are taking to bring down the manufacturing costs. It simply described it as ‘cost reduction’.
Digitimes also confirmed the speculation that there will be three iPhone devices coming out later this year — A 5.85-inch OLED iPhone along with a 6.45-inch model and a 6.1-inch LCD variant. The report suggests the smallest OLED iPhone will be the cheapest to produce, which means, this could also be the most affordable iPhone this year.