Galaxy S23 Ultra Bill of Materials Reveals That The Phone Sells for 154% Higher Than Its Manufacturing Cost

If you are in the market to get a top-tier Android phone, it is going to run for you starting at $1,199. That is the venerable Galaxy S23 Ultra, one of the most expensive Android smartphones in the market, and for a good reason. However, have you ever wondered just how much it costs Samsung to manufacture a phone that costs this much? Well, we are going to look at that just now.

Based on information from Counterpoint Research, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's bill of materials, or BoM, comes to a rather underwhelming price of just $469. This is definitely a lot of money when you consider that the base model of the phone costs $1,199. So, where is all the money going then? Well, we'll get to it in a while. First, let's have a look at a breakdown of how the costs are handled.

So, based on the bill of material, the processing and cellular, which is provided by Qualcomm, totals up to $35 of the cost, whereas the display and camera total up to 32%, which is primarily Samsung. Memory takes 11%, the casing 8%, and "others," which include vibration motor, waterproofing, PCB, MLCC, and other various aspects, take up 15%. The image also claims that this does not include the assembly, testing, IP&R, software, and all the other related costs. So, the bill of materials comes down to $469, which is approximately 153.8% higher than the retail price at which Samsung sells the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

So, what about the rest of the $730? Well, Samsung is not pocketing that much profit over every Galaxy S23 Ultra made. The pie chart above mentions how it does not include assembly, testing, IP&R, software, and other related costs. So combine the bill of materials with everything else, and you realize that the price does start to make sense. Sure, the company still earns a profit over every unit sold, but at the end of the day, the actual number is far smaller than one might think, and therefore, it is important to keep this in mind.