Google’s latest Pixel phones launched a few months back, and sales appear to be moving in the right direction. Google made a lot of design changes this year, but it’s not breaking the bank. A new report from Japan’s Nikkei reveals it costs Google about $400 to build each Pixel 9 Pro. It’s not a cheap piece of hardware, but it pales in comparison to what Apple spends on the comparable iPhone.
Smartphones continue to get more expensive at retail, and that’s reflected in how much they cost to produce. The Pixel 9 Pro’s bill of material (BOM) includes a few high-ticket items, including the Tensor G4 processor ($80) and the Samsung OLED panel ($75). The Pixel 9 Pro also has Google’s more capable (and expensive) triple camera setup. The camera modules collectively add $61 to the BOM for a grand total of $406.
The report compared Google’s smaller flagship to Apple’s, namely the iPhone 16 Pro. Apple’s most expensive components are all a little more expensive, including the A18 Pro chip, which runs Apple a whopping $135. Apple is no stranger to spending big on Arm chips—it’s been like that for a decade. The M14 display is $110, and the camera array is $91. Add all the components together, and you get $568, which is slightly higher than the iPhone 15 Pro.
Apple does have a few handicaps in keeping the price low. For one, it has an expensive IR sensor module for Face ID on all current iPhones. The frame of its Pro phones is also titanium, which is more expensive than the aluminum we see on the Pixel 9 Pro. Neither firm is spending much on accessories these days—a USB-C cable is the only thing in the box with these devices.
We cannot extrapolate from the BOM directly to profit, but both phones sell for $1,000. That means Google makes as much as $594 on each phone, while Apple rakes in $432. These numbers say nothing of development or marketing, but it’s hard to pin down how much of that spending is connected to a specific model. That certainly puts the real cost of manufacturing phones closer to the retail price, but it would seem both companies can still eke out a profit for a $1,000 smartphone.