IHS: Samsung Galaxy S4 rings in at $236 for bill of materials

The Samsung Galaxy S4 might come across as a fairly basic upgrade from its predecessor, but according to a new teardown, it turns out the new hardware is significantly more expensive.

See also on CNET: Full coverage of Samsung Galaxy S4 launch | Live blog from the Samsung Galaxy S4 event in NYC | Hands-on review

Market intelligence firm IHS iSuppli is reporting that the bill of materials for the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy S4 costs roughly $236.

Here's a few examples on how the two generations in the flagship Galaxy smartphone series differ:

• Display: Touted to be the biggest cost increase, the S4's full HD AMOLED display with a 1,920 by 1,080 resolution costs $75 compared to $65 for the 1,280 by 720 WXGA resolution screen on the S3.
• Processor: IHS reported that Samsung is "believed" to be using an Exynos 5 Octa eight-core chip with Samsung’s own 28-nanometer process. That is said to cost $30 compared to just $17.50 for the chip on the S3.
• Sensors: The S4 -- which got the added benefits of humidity, temperature and IR gesture sensors -- has $16 worth of sensors compared to $12.70 for the S3.
• LTE: The Galaxy S4 supports the new 4G LTE air standard and up to six global LTE bands. Thus, the wireless interface rings up at $25 -- up from just HSPA+ for $16 on the S3.

Nevertheless, while there have been reports about pricing and availability in other countries, Samsung has not revealed how much the Android smartphone will cost to consumers -- either with or without a contract.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected to roll out this spring will all of the major wireless providers in the United States.

In total, Samsung during the device's unveiling last week that the S4 be available with 327 carriers across 55 countries.

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