Never mind the headaches and reported Black Screen of Death syndrome affecting some 3DS consoles, for some, the real gripe against Nintendo's latest handheld game player is the price. Without any extras, the 3DS runs $250, or $50 shy of a slim Xbox 360 console with a 250GB hard drive. Decide for yourself whether this comes as any consolation or more salt in the wound, but a recent breakdown of parts pegs the bill of materials (BOM) and manufacturing costs of the 3DS at $103 and a quarter.
According to iSuppli, the 3DS carries a BOM of $100.71, which is a 33 percent increase over the DSi. Not surprisingly, the displays account for a third of the cost ($33.80), followed by mechanical/electromechanical parts ($20.81), processor ($10.02), memory ($8.36), and on down the list (view the itemized breakdown here.) Manufacturing adds another $2.54.
One interesting thing to note is that the battery, at $3.50, is more than twice as expensive as that of the DSi and accounts for 3.5 percent of the BOM.
"Because the 3DS has bigger, more sophisticated displays and a higher performance apps processor than the DSi -- as well as new added features such as a gyroscope and accelerometer -- it makes sense the battery would have higher capacity," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, teardown services for IHS.
Rassweiler also said that Nintendo appears to have taken a page from Apple in designing the battery and multi-faceted power management scheme.
Source
According to iSuppli, the 3DS carries a BOM of $100.71, which is a 33 percent increase over the DSi. Not surprisingly, the displays account for a third of the cost ($33.80), followed by mechanical/electromechanical parts ($20.81), processor ($10.02), memory ($8.36), and on down the list (view the itemized breakdown here.) Manufacturing adds another $2.54.
One interesting thing to note is that the battery, at $3.50, is more than twice as expensive as that of the DSi and accounts for 3.5 percent of the BOM.
"Because the 3DS has bigger, more sophisticated displays and a higher performance apps processor than the DSi -- as well as new added features such as a gyroscope and accelerometer -- it makes sense the battery would have higher capacity," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, teardown services for IHS.
Rassweiler also said that Nintendo appears to have taken a page from Apple in designing the battery and multi-faceted power management scheme.
Source
