iSuppli: G1 Beats iPhone 3G BOM $143 v. $172

Google’s Android-based G1 cell phone cost $143.89 to build, less than Apple’s iPhone 3G, according to iSuppli Corp.

A teardown of the 8GB iPhone 3G’s discovered the bill of materials for the Apple handset was $172, iSuppi analyst Tina Teng told Cult of Mac.

Nearly 20 percent ($28.49) of the G1 hardware costs are in the ARM processors used for multimedia and modem, iSuppli announced Tuesday. In October, Intel blamed the ARM for speed problems with the iPhone 3G.

The G1’s 3-megapixel auto-focus camera is the next most expensive item, costing $12.13, according to the company.

Hardware supporting 3G communications cost $9.84, or 6.8 percent of the G1’s total build expenses. Because the G1 uses the 1700/2100 3G bands and the iPhone supports the 850/1900/2100 bands, an unlocked G1 on AT&T’s network would operate only at EDGE transmission rates, iSuppli noted.

Overall, the G1 “lacks the wow factor” of the iPhone and other competitors, Teng said in an announcement. Along with lacking in design factors, the G1 requires owners to connect by Wi-Fi before downloading music.

Although the Android phone is positioned as a consumer phone, the handset doesn’t include some features that could make it attractive to the corporate world. In one example, the G1 opted for the Post Office Protocol (POP) to transfer e-mail. The iPhone, however, licensed Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology to become compatible with the many Microsoft Exchange Servers used by business.

The G1’s open source nature was singled out as to the feature possibly threatening the iPhone.

ISuppli’s “virtual” teardown of the G1 used the research firm’s software to determine cell phone component costs.