MacRumors.com

Market analyst group iSuppli put out some preliminary numbers as the component costs for the Apple iPhone. Typically, these component breakdowns are performed on a physical device, so this analysis was done with a best-guess on many of the suppliers.

According to the analysis, the manufacturing cost for each 4GB iPhone is about $230, offering Apple nearly a 50% gross margin on the iPhone. This is reportedly in line with previous Apple margins in the iMac and iPod nano, and suggests there is room for price drops in the future. Note that this price only includes raw hardware costs, excluding manufacturing and research/development costs.

Of interest, the supplier of the 3.5" Touch screen remains a mystery, but iSuppli estimates its cost at $33.50.

Update: Spiegel.de reports that Balda is the supplier for the touch screens.