Apple Watch Series 6 costs A$180 to make

Apple Watch Series 6

The Apple Watch Series 6 (S6), on average, costs A$180 (US$136) to make according to a bill of materials (BoM) analysis by Counterpoint’s Component Research Practice.

The smartwatch’s application processor, display, sensors and casing together account for ~68% of the total device value. Assembly is about $9.

The BoM report, if anything, has a lot more generous cost allowances for components that Apple pays its suppliers, so one has to ask why the device sells from $A$599 here. Well, there are marketing and distribution costs and of course resellers profit.

  • The new S6 SIP (System-in-Package), which Apple claims is 20% faster than the S5
  • Wi-Fi AC dual-band and Bluetooth 5.0
  • 1GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 32GB. The S6 SIP module, DRAM and memory add up to 23.7% of the overall cost
  • 50% louder speaker (than S5)
  • Fast charging
  • The casing and body materials remain the same, including the body crown, metal frame, rear cover made of aluminium/stainless steel, ceramic/sapphire crystal back, and stainless-steel frame. Together these make up around 13.3% of the BoM cost.
  • The core functionality of S6 is the same as S5 with the addition of the always-on altimeter and blood oxygen sensor, brighter display, minor upgrade to the battery, and fast charging capability.
  • And you can be sure that the S7 scheduled for release in September, as with all Apple Watch series, will be just another incremental improvement – evolution, not revolution.

The Apple Watch Series 6 is essentially an update to S5 and offers few compelling reasons to upgrade.

BoM report

But Apple is doing very nicely, thank you, with a 33% lion’s share of the market against Samsung’s 8%. 

Global Smartwatch Shipments Market Share (Q1 2018 – Q1 2021)

Brand2018
Q1
2018
Q2
2018
Q3
2018
Q4
2019
Q1
2019
Q2
2019
Q3
2019
Q4
2020
Q1
2020
Q2
2020
Q3
2020
Q4
2021
Q1
Apple26%22%21%37%26%23%26%34%30%30%28%40%33%
Huawei3%5%5%5%8%8%10%10%10%13%14%8%8%
Samsung5%5%8%8%9%10%8%9%9%7%10%10%8%
Imoo10%9%8%6%8%8%8%6%7%7%7%6%5%
Others56%59%58%44%49%51%48%41%44%43%41%36%46%

Imoo (kids watch) and Huawei are mainly sold in China.

GadgetGuy’s review of the Apple Watch Series 6 is here.