The Pixel 9 Pro is much cheaper to make than the iPhone 16 Pro

A new report out of Japan today claims to reveal the bill of materials (BOM) for both Google’s Pixel 9 Pro and Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro. The BOM is essentially an estimate of how much the parts that make up the smartphones cost – this obviously completely excludes R&D and marketing costs, it’s important to keep in mind.

If this report is accurate (and it’s not a given because this isn’t publicly available information), then it appears that Google’s Pixel 9 Pro is much cheaper to make (looking at parts costs) than the iPhone 16 Pro. The Pixel’s BOM comes in at $406, while the iPhone’s is reportedly $568.

Google Pixel 9 Pro (left) vs. iPhone 16 Pro (right) bill of materials

So the BOM of the Pixel 9 Pro is 11% less than last year’s Pixel 8 Pro, but this is a bad comparison since the successor to the Pixel 8 Pro is the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The Pixel 9 Pro is simply smaller, which means it has a smaller screen and a smaller battery – both presumably cheaper than larger ones, so that could be where the drop in BOM costs come from.

On the other hand, the iPhone 16 Pro’s BOM is 6% higher than its predecessor last year. The iPhone chipset costs an estimated $135, the display costs $110, and the camera components total $91. The Pixel’s SoC costs $80, the display costs $75, and the camera components total $61.

For reference, keep in mind that both the Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro start at the same price: $999.

Source (in Japanese) | Via 1 | through 2