Have you ever wondered how much it costs the big tech companies to make the phones we buy? Well, a new report might just have the answer, suggesting that Google Pixel 9 Pro costs a lot less to produce than Apple’s similarly priced flagship, the iPhone 16 Pro.
A report by Nikkei (via PhoneArena), says that the iPhone 16 Pro costs $568 to make – at least based on just the materials used in the phone (this report doesn’t include research or development). Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 9 Pro costs $406 – yet they both retail for $999, or at least they did at launch.
According to the report, the cost to Google for the Pixel 9 Pro is down 11% versus last year’s Pixel Pro 8, while the iPhone 16 Pro costs Apple 6% more than the iPhone 15 Pro. The display, camera, and A18 Pro chip make up around $334 of the $568 cost of Apple’s flagship.
In these three key areas, the Pixel 9 Pro is supposedly far cheaper to produce, with the display, camera, and Tensor G2 chip coming in at around $215. Of course, the production cost isn’t the only factor in deciding the final retail price, and it’s fair to assume that at Apple’s scale, there are certain aspects of the business that are cheaper per unit.
What does this all mean? Well, it could mean anything – it’s a bit silly to take conclusions from this (like “Oh no, Google is ripping us off”, it’s probably not). If accurate, it seems to suggest other parts of bringing a smartphone to market are cheaper for Apple – though again, we can’t really know all that much.
Still interesting, however, to know how much Google’s Pixel 9 Pro costs to make. For more from both, check out our Google Pixel 9 Pro XL review and iPhone 16 review to see the latest each company has to offer.