In an intervention by John Gruber in your podcast The Talk Show, the well-known announcer offered details of the production price of the HomePod and Apple TV 4K. The information seems to come from a trusted source, he calls it "a reliable little bird". In the comment he assures that the Apple TV 4K is sold at cost, while the HomePod is sold at a loss.
This comment has created quite a stir. If true, why has Apple taken this action? Is this really the manufacturing price of these Apple computers?
Today the Apple TV sells from € 199. Only him A10 chip that moves the entire Apple entertainment box, is priced at $ 26. That only represents one piece. All other components, including the remote, the marketing and R&D for its creation, it would only allow you to cover the cost. As for the cost of manufacturing HomePod, in Gruber's words, the asking price of € 349 would not cover, for a small difference, the cost of manufacturing Apple's speaker.
One thing I've heard from a little "trusty birdie" is that Apple does sell [the Apple TV] at cost. Like it's really like $ 180 a box. And you think, 'wow, this is amazing, it has an A10 processor, which we know is super fast and has good graphics. I've heard the same about HomePod too. For example, why is the HomePod so much more expensive than these other communicators you can talk to? I have reason to believe that Apple actually sells it at a loss. I can't prove it, although I don't think the loss is great.
This action by Apple is striking if it is confirmed to be true. More if possible when analysts indicate that the margin over Apple's product averages 38%.
Over time things get cheaper to do. Apple has very high margins and somehow, almost to an eerie degree, always around 38-39 percent of the margin across the company.
The main reason why Apple should sell these products at a lower cost is the entrance to their subscription services, both from the application store, and from the direct services of the company, such as Apple Music, or the future Apple television.
However, in the last hours, Mark Gurman, Apple analyst for Bloomberg, assures that Apple sells these two products with positive margin.
