iPad Air might be thin, but storage fattens Apple’s profit margins
Apple is the king of profit margins, and storage has become a lucrative service. Based on a recent report by research firm IHS Inc., The iPad Air that sells for $499 costs Apple $274 to make. That’s a 13 percent decrease from the estimated $316 that it cost Apple to make the third-generation iPad, introduced last year.
It turns out, the more storage you get, the heftier Apple’s profit. If you decide to get the 32-gigabyte version instead of the 16-gigabyte model of the iPad Air, IHS estimates the additional 16GB only costs Apple an additional $8.40 to make, yet sells for $100 more.
Make way for more apps
The demand for mobile storage is driving development from manufacturers, including market rival Seagate. The component maker’s Samsung HDD Division has been boastful about its newest hard drive, the Spinpoint M9T. Claiming the world’s thinnest 2TB hard drive, OEMs get a high-capacity external storage solution with a big boost to mobile storage device.
That means more space for apps, photos, videos and other files. With cloud-syncing options lending services more towards consumers, storage remains a central need for consumer devices. The performance of your storage components directly impact your device’s performance, and buyers only expect more from their mobile handsets these days.
“With consumer demand for storage capacity continuing to grow in mobile applications, the M9T answers this demand and is positioned to fulfill capacity needs in virtually any application,” said Doug DeHaan, general manager, Samsung HDD division.
Fast is beautiful, but size matters
But there is a trade-off for that performance boost. Is bigger always better?
Further contextualizing the consumer impact of storage, mobile gaming executive Kanaan Jemili is preparing a keynote on the subject. The Senior VP of Product Management at Rovi, Jemili will be at the 13th annual Storage Visions conference in Las Vegas early next year to share his perspective on the event’s theme, “Fast is Beautiful, but Size Matters.”
Every day more and more people produce, distribute, curate, share and store data and content. The volume continues to grow exponentially with every new day. Content is everywhere, and has a tangible effect on commerce, the environment and our culture.
photo credit: Tim RT via photopin cc
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