iSuppli

iPhone 5s/5c estimated to cost $199/$173 to build

Following iFixIt's ritual teardown of Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c and a detailed chip analysis of the former by Chipworks, research firm IHS Suppli ran their spreadsheets to guesstimate just how much Apple may be paying for the parts.

According to a research note, the pricier top-of-the-line iPhone 5s commands a bill of material of $199.

Its polycarbonate plastic brother costs less to build, with part costs pegged at $173. The full breakdown is right after the break...

IHS iSuppli: production of iPad mini Retina display on track for fall launch

While it seems all but certain that Apple is going to launch a redesigned fifth gen iPad this fall, the fate of the iPad mini isn't quite so clear. Reports thus far have been split between the tablet having and not having a Retina display.

Well this morning we're adding another one to the 'having' pile. Well-known market research firm IHS iSuppli reports that the new mini will indeed have a high resolution screen, and that production volumes are on par with 2012...

Would you pay more for an iPad mini with Retina display?

Apple is widely expected to do some major updating to its tablet line this fall. The latest reports allege that the company is going to give its 9.7-inch iPad a complete makeover, and squeeze a high resolution Retina display into its smaller sibling.

The latter scenario is particularly interesting, because screen resolution has been the one complaint users have had with the current iPad mini. But according to new data from iSuppli, consumers may end up paying more for the extra pixels...

Samsung passes Nokia as the world’s top phone brand in 2012

The cellphone industry has a new king. South Korea's Samsung is #1 in the market, unseating the Finnish-based Nokia after fourteen years. As 2012 wraps up, Samsung is responsible for 29 percent of all cell phone shipments, up from last year's 24 percent.

Conversely, Nokia slips to #2, dropping to 24 percent of the market, a fall from 30 percent posted in 2011. Nokia's departure from a top spot it held since 1998 is largely due to the predominance of smartphones, an area where Samsung thrived and Nokia faltered, according to the hardware research firm iSuppli...