According to a Counterpoint report It costs Samsung $469 to make a Galaxy S23 Ultra. That is the figure that appears in the BoM, acronym for “Bill of Materials”, which we can translate directly as “invoice of materials”. It includes the price of all the components used in this terminal, and also the cost of mounting and assembling it.
This means that the manufacturing cost of the Galaxy S23 Ultra includes everything you need to start using the terminal, Since, as we have indicated, those 469 dollars include the assembly of components and the final assembly of the terminal, in fact this process represents 8% of the total cost of the terminal, as we can see in the attached graph.
The most expensive components inside the Galaxy S23 Ultra are the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 SoC and the mobile connectivity system, which account for 35% of the total, which is equivalent to $164.15. It is clear that the new Qualcomm SoC is very expensive. In second place is the screen, which represents 18% of the cost of the smartphone, which amounts to $84.42.
In third place we have the cameras, which represent 14% of the cost, that is, $65.66. The fourth position is for the memory system, which represents 11% of the cost, or what is the same, $51.59. Finally we have the assembly, which adds up to 8% of the total cost, that is, $37.52.
Within the category of other costs are included components such as the PCB, the vibration system, the inductors, resistors, connectors and other fundamental things for the correct functioning of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. However, this list of costs does not include others that are also very important and necessary for the commercialization of this smartphone, such as R&D, marketing and logistics expenses.
All in all, it is clear that even if we include these costs, Samsung has a fairly large profit margin, after all, the sale price of the Galaxy S23 Ultra in its base version is 1,199 dollars before taxes, and 1,409 euros in Spain with taxes included. It’s unclear what actual net income margin the company gets for each Galaxy S23 Ultra unit sold, but we’re sure we’re talking several hundred dollars.
In the last graph you can see the companies that earn the most money for each manufactured unit of this Samsung terminal. Qualcomm is the absolute winner, and it is obvious that Samsung provides a significant part of the components it needs. Micron also does well, with the other companies having a smaller share.
