iPhone made up of $187 worth of parts

The parts used to construct the iPhone 4 cost about $187.51, according to a teardown analysis conducted by research firm iSuppli.

iSuppli dissected a 16GB iPhone 4, which went on sale Thursday, and estimated the cost of each component based on the manufacturer and volume. iSuppli's analysis is only an estimate because Apple is able to negotiate costs with each manufacturer. It also does not include how much Apple spent on shipping and labor to build the phone, or advertising, software development, and patent licensing.

"Over the years, the iPhone has generally tended to hover in the $170-$180 cost range because Apple seems to be trying to hit some kind of budget," iSuppli's Kevin Keller told BusinessWeek. The iPhone 3GS teardown a year ago revealed a build cost of $178.96. The Nexus One, built by HTC, was estimated in January to have cost $174.15.

For more of this story, read iPhone 4 teardown reveals $188 cost to build on CNET News.