According to BroadPoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall, Apple will make upwards of $200 on each iPad sold to cult members.

The bill of materials for the cheapest $499 SKU with 16GB of memory and WiFi connectivity is $270.50. Even when service costs are added, the cost ends up at $290.50. It gets worse with pricier models. The $629 SKU with 16GB and 3G costs $306.50 to build. The 32GB model with 3G costs $322 to make, but it will sell for $729. This is a 55.1 percent margin, something you rarely see in drug trafficking, let alone the tech industry.

The average iPad margin will probably end up around 50 percent and Marshall expects Apple to sell up to 7 million units in 2010 alone. If Marshall is right, Apple stands to make around $1.5 billion on iPads this year, but this sounds overly optimistic. Apple still faces other costs probably not factored into Marshall's BOM cost and it's hard to see even almighty Cupertino finding 7 million consumers willing to buy such a pricey toy by the end of the year.

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