The Pixel 9 Pro is much cheaper to make than the iPhone 16 Pro
A new report from Japan today claims to reveal the bill of materials (BOM) for both Google's Pixel 9 Pro and Apple's iPhone 16 Pro. The bill of materials is essentially an estimation of how much the parts that make up the smartphones cost - obviously these completely exclude R&D and marketing costs, it's important to keep in mind.
If this report is accurate (and that's not a given because this isn't publicly available information), then it looks like Google's Pixel 9 Pro is much cheaper to make (when we look at the parts' costs) than the iPhone 16 Pro. The Pixel's BOM adds up to $406, while the iPhone's is allegedly $568.
Google Pixel 9 Pro (left) vs iPhone 16 Pro (right) bill of materials
The Pixel 9 Pro's BOM is thus 11% less than it was for the Pixel 8 Pro last year, but this is a bad comparison since the Pixel 8 Pro's successor is the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The Pixel 9 Pro is simply smaller, which means it has a smaller screen and a smaller battery - both presumably cheaper than larger ones would be, so that's where the drop in BOM cost could be coming from.
On the other hand, the iPhone 16 Pro's BOM is 6% higher than its predecessor's was last year. The iPhone's chipset is estimated to cost $135, the display $110, and the camera components add up to $91. The Pixel's SoC is $80, the display is $75, and the camera components add up to $61.
For reference, note that both the Pixel 9 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro start at the same price: $999.
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