As clever as that iPhone based "diagram" is, it's more or less impossible to read.

What was the problem in making a table saying: These are the components comprising the iPhone and they cost and manufacturer.

I was going to say the same thing. Especially at the lower percentages, it's almost impossible to follow the line across the diagram.

ugh needless chart junk.

This diagram would be instantly forgettable as a table. In this form it's far more likely to reach a wider audience and make an impact.

The diagram would be forgettable, the information would not. It's like saying if you don't use webdings no one will remember your blog post because it just uses a "legible" font. They, and you, are focusing on the wrong thing. Read you some Tufte.

"concentrate on its strengths: designing elegant, easy-to-use combinations of hardware, software and services."

How does Apple manage to get journalists to advertise for it?

Is it a disputed fact that Apple creates elegant, easy to use combinations of hardware, software and services?

I hate iTunes and Quicktime with a passion and don't consider them to be user friendly, but then again I'm a Windows user, so maybe it's my fault.

It's not your fault - back in the late 90s when I came to light side I hated iTunes too. It's clearly stockholm syndrome - I deal with it because I've grown used to the way it does things. It isn't bad, but it does take getting used to.

Quicktime, well, I can't see why you'd hate it (except for maybe that it probably sucks on windows) - it's actually amazing on the mac. Lightweight, fast, everything a user needs and nothing else.

Not to be pedantic, but iTunes wasn't released until 2001.

Not your fault. Apple software in Windows is awful. iTunes is slow and ugly, for example. But when you use that apps in a Mac they're just great.

Don't ask me why this happens. It may be Apple's engineers fault or Windows' architecture fault.

I use iTunes on both Windows and Mac for dealing with iPads, podcasts and grabbing stuff off of iTunes U and it sucks just as much on both platforms. It might be a great music player, but when they decided to make it a kitchen sink app for handling all those non music listening tasks just mentioned, they ended up creating a usability nightmare.

By designing elegant, easy-to-use combinations of hardware, software and services. First iPhone ads were just showing what and how you could use it. Ads for other mobile phones at the time…

It's a vicious cycle: People who read news often use Apple's products, and they won't like any Apple-bashing news. Critisizing an iProduct will instantly lower the journalists' credibility.

It's similar to the old IBM/MS thing, nobody ever got fired for praising Apple.

I see. That must be the explanation for why the media didnt blow iPhone 4 "Antennagate" out of proportion, and why the media gave Apple a pass for using the same Foxconn factory journalists gave Dell and others such a hard time for using...

On the contrary, Apple is reported on like a celebrity because celebrity sells magazines, papers, or page views. The reporters are happy to write admiring articles, but even happier if they can find dirt to dish. The more controversy, the merrier.

Even on non-controversial topics, writing the contrarian point of view is more likely to drive links and page views and "engagement". Why do you think Joe Wilcox has a job? And why did MacWorld employ Dvorak? Turns out people get hired for dissing Apple.

Hell, look at Rob Enderle...

Many of them will own iPhones, so they'll have first hand experience. Write about what you know and all that.

My impression, will someone please assure me (--are there any good antonyms of "assure" in this context?--), is that Apple is slowly switching to TI for the parts that Samsung is now supplying.

TI neither makes Flash nor DRAM nor acts as a foundry service. There is no way that TI can take a single slot from Samsung.

Does mechanical & electro-mechanicals cover the machined steel band/antenna/frame? Because that's not cheap and it's a difficult material to work with. In one of the iPhone4 original videos, they had a multi-axis CNC going around outside and grinding/polishing it down, which was pretty impressive for a mass produced part.

I think that you can count on that. A leading edge semiconductor plant is probably the most expensive factory you can buy. I think I have heard somewhere around $4b for a 28nm line +/- a tech node. Compare that to $0.5b for an automobile line with a bunch of multiple axis heavy duty CNC machines (I know, citation needed).

That's a good point. My thinking was chip prices are pretty well known and commotitized while Apple's manufacture of the case is a big unknown to iSupply and everyone else because it's completely custom and no one makes anything similar.

Chip prices change a lot depending on who you are (what you can negotiate and how much you want to buy). Apple is in a very special position as they have few products and a tendency to buy a part of their suppliers machines in exchange for guaranteed shipments and lower prices. The isupply table http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/iPhone-4-Carries... shows pretty different prices even for Apples own A4 which should have a flat factory cost. As for the mechanical components, I guess that the 10.80 figure is a decent guesstimate which could be off by +/- 50%.

Did anyone else notice that they seem to be saying that foxcon makes 100% profit? It costs them $7 to manufacture everything, and they get a $7 profit. Is that right?