Moto X Production Costs Only $23 Less Than The S4

Everybody was pretty excited about the Moto X prior to its announcement, and it did live up to the expectations except in one important detail, pricing. Given the Moto X’s more modest spec sheet, people were expecting a lower price and felt that the $550 off-contract were just too high. Now, according to some research from firms like IHS and Goldman Sachs and some careful tear-down of the device, it seems the price may be right after all.

Some considered that the Moto X had a higher production cost because it is assembled in the U.S., but it seems production cost in the U.S. is $12, which is only $4 or $5 more than what it would cost to assemble the device in Asia.

Despite that small difference, the Galaxy S4 costs $244 to build, just $23 more than the $221 Motorola pays for each Moto X. The major difference between the devices is the display. The Moto X’s 720p display costs $62.50, while the 1080p display on the Galaxy S4 costs $75. In the processor department the difference isn’t as big as we thought. The Exynos octa-core on the Galaxy S4 costs $30, but the Moto X’s X8 Mobile Computing System, composed of a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro plus two additional chips from Texas Instruments, is very close, costing $28.

While we thought the Moto X was terribly overpriced it costs just $23 less than the Samsung flagship that goes for about the same thing, on and off contract. We thought that was due to U.S. production, but as it seems that doesn’t account for a big difference. Given the small difference, the $199 on contract seems fair compared to other flagship devices. Do you still feel it is too steep? Let us know in the comments below.

[Via AllThingsD]