Stop the 'ludicrous hyping' already.

Those things are expensive....

If you don't want to read about iThingies, just don't click on links to 'em. I'm no Apple fan, but I find the convolutions of their launches fascinating.

Looks like pretty standard pricing strategy. You start high getting the early adopters and gadget fans. You price excessively high to maintain the supply/demand balance and to recover your R&D costs. Then you steadilly ramp up production, drive down component and assembly costs and start to reduce the price. Hardly new or news. :)

I remember when I got Mouse-Trap for Xmas whe I was six by Dad said it looked like tuppence worth of plastic.

Nice to see El Reg exercising the same degree of in depth analysis.

Yeah. but tuppence could get you a night out and a new suit in them days.

... and each one makes some profit for the parts and assemblies they provide up the chain.

Apple gets the largest share, but also has done by far the most work and innovation.

I know Apple has an annoying reputation to many. What Jobs has done is move Apple out of the commodity consumer electronics business. Traditional silicon heads prefer living in a tree house with a "No Girls Allowed" sign firmly nailed to the trunk. They haven't been happy since DOS last kept the digital peasants at bay.

Exactly how much is the leather worth in a pair of Italian loafers? What are the materials worth in a Turner? What is the value of the clay used in Wallace and Gromit?

Profit???

Everything is made in china with Apple...I doubt apple is giving them a "nice" cut.

If they make everything in china, does it not break easily? Must hold in heat something terrible too - wonder how they get around that? But I guess that's innovation for ya.