Samsung in an Apple-like way has cut its cost for components, with the installation of a cheaper LTE baseband chip that went into the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. This dirty little secret was exposed when the wildly popular phone was stripped down to its innards, revealing the newer chip. The new chip has the same high-speed data performance as the older version.
Now what’s the big deal, you ask? Well, the newer LTE chip inside the Galaxy Nexus is substantially cheaper than the previous version, as the latest model is estimated to cost half as much as its $23 predecessor, according ABI Research. The cost shouldn’t be surprising because this kind of thing tends to happen when consumers are shelling out big money for technology that seems to get better and faster.
In the end, this, without question, is great news for manufacturers who want to bring in these 4G smartphones downmarket and offer them at a lower price point. I guess the big picture is how components are becoming cheaper, but this doesn’t make smartphones ultimately less expensive — case in point — Apple makes over $400 dollars profit from a phone that costs the company slightly less than $200 to make.
[via mobileburn]