Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A brand new Nikkei report reveals the price of supplies (BOM) for the Pixel 9 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional, exhibiting what Google and Apple spend on core elements.
- The Pixel 9 Professional’s whole BOM is roughly $406, considerably decrease than the iPhone 16 Professional’s BOM of $568.
- These BOM prices don’t cowl extra bills like advertising and marketing, delivery, and R&D, that are additionally factored into the retail worth.
This yr, Google took a daring step by launching its Pixel 9 sequence a lot earlier within the calendar, a transfer extensively seen as a direct try to compete head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone 16 sequence. This gamble seems to have paid off handsomely, with Pixel 9 gross sales figures portray an image of success. A brand new report by Nikkei now affords a captivating look behind the scenes on the manufacturing prices of those two standard flagships, the Pixel 9 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional, every retailing at round $1,000. (h/t: 9to5Google)
Google’s Pixel 9 Professional is reported to have price simply over $400 in uncooked supplies, or the “invoice of supplies” (BOM) — the value for the components that make up the gadget. The BOM represents the mixed price of each bodily half wanted to construct the gadget and serves as a baseline indicator of manufacturing prices.
Person @Jukanlosreve on X shared an extra breakdown of the Pixel 9 Professional BOM, and we will see that the costliest element is the Tensor G4 chipset, Google’s in-house silicon, which accounts for $80 of the overall price. Following intently behind is the Samsung-made M14 show panel, which contributes $75 to the BOM. The digital camera elements, a vital facet of the Pixel’s famend images capabilities, are available at $61.
Apparently, the report means that the Pixel 9 Professional’s BOM price is about 11% decrease than that of the Pixel 8 Professional. Nevertheless, it’s vital to notice that this comparability may not be totally apples-to-apples because the Pixel 9 Professional is technically an all-new mannequin within the sequence. A extra correct comparability would contain the Pixel 9 Professional XL and the Pixel 8 Professional, because the 9 Professional XL is the true successor to the Pixel 8 Professional.
The Nikkei report additionally offers insights into the BOM price of the iPhone 16 Professional, which is estimated to be $568, a slight enhance from the iPhone 15 Professional. For Apple, the M14 show is likely one of the priciest elements at $110, with digital camera components costing about $91.
Apple’s A18 Professional chip is reportedly priced at $135, a notable bump from Google’s BOM that might be a direct reflection of the real-world efficiency hole between the most recent Tensor and Apple chips. For what it’s price, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is able to energy the most effective Android telephones in 2025, is reportedly priced even greater at slightly below $200, which will most definitely lead to cellphone costs going up.
It’s essential to do not forget that the BOM price represents solely a fraction of the overall price concerned in bringing a smartphone to market. Different components, akin to analysis and improvement, advertising and marketing, delivery, and distribution, additionally contribute considerably to the ultimate retail worth. Nevertheless, the BOM nonetheless serves as a invaluable snapshot of every firm’s methods.
