We've run a few stories on Apple's iPhone manufacturing costs by now, including this dissection complete with component breakdown, but here's another. When technology Austin analyst Portelligent dissected the iPhone, they determined the components of the 4GB model run $200, with the 8GB running just $20 more. But Portelligent admits that it's tough to price components with intentionally mysterious origins.

The touchscreen, for example, is estimated to be the most expensive component of the phone at $60. But there are no markings under the surface as to where the screen was manufactured, even though most people believe it was a German company named Balda that we've talked about before. Whether or not the iPhone actually costs $220 in materials, we're still ignoring the price of manufacturing, R&D (though we're guessing the Apple didn't pay for a lot of it) and a few of those Apple commercials that we've grown so fond of.

Taking the iPhone Apart [via newlaunches]

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