Court Documents Reveal iPhone, iPad Margins

by Mike on July 26, 2012

If there is one thing that this ongoing litigation between Apple and Samsung has brought to light, it would have to be insight into the inner workings of both companies. Recently, we had a chance to see some of the earliest schematics that Apple had put together for their original tablet, the iPad.

Today, new documents that have been unsealed reveal the margins that Apple has on two of their most popular gadgets, the iPad and the iPhone. Based upon these court documents, we see that the gross margins for iPhone sales within the United States ranged from a low of 49% to a high of 58%. These margins reflect Apple’s sales within the US between April 2010 and March 2012.

During the period of October 2010 and March 2012, Apple saw margins on their iPad range from anywhere between 23% and 32%. Understandably, Apple was reluctant to comment on any of these findings. What we do know however is that iPhone sales within the US during the reported period above delivered in excess of $33 billion into Apples coffers and an additional $13 billion was brought in by iPad sales during the 17 month period reported to the court. This trial between Apple and Samsung will start on July 30th with the Cupertino company asking for $2.53 in damages. This trial has the potential of being even more costly for Samsung if the Korean company is found to be willfully violating patents in which case damages could go as high as three times what is asked and there is also a risk that some Samsung devices will not be allowed into the US nor sold.

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