An article today by Arik Hesseldahl on BusinessWeek reports on the innards of Apple’s new video iPod. Market researcher iSuppli, says chipmaker Broadcom is the new name among a list of chip and component suppliers that has changed little from other iPod models over the years. Broadcom’s chip handles the video, while longtime suppliers PortalPlayer and Wolfson Microelectronics are still responsible for audio chips, notes the report. “The latest iPod, like its smaller sibling, the iPod Nano, enjoys similarly fat gross profit margins in the neighborhood of 50%, according to iSuppli analyst Chris Crotty, who estimated the price of the parts used in the iPod. He reckons the 30-gigabyte version of the new iPod, which sells at retail for $299, costs Apple $151 to manufacture. ‘This is in line with what we have seen with other iPod products from Apple,’ he says.”
