Apple iPad costs $229 to produce, says iSuppli

The group conducted what it called a “virtual teardown” of the iPad, since the device is not yet available and component suppliers have not been announced. Apple’s iPad, which resembles a large iPhone and uses the same operating system, will go on sale as early as next month, as the company looks to define a new category of mobile devices. For the $499 iPad — the lowest-cost model, which features 16 gigabytes of flash memory — iSuppli estimated the total materials cost at $219.35, with a $10 manufacturing cost.