Google Glass Parts Estimated to Cost Less Than $80

Google Glass currently carries a $1,500 price tag, but the components packed tightly inside the device may cost the Internet giant a lot less, according to an early estimate released on Wednesday.

TechInsights’ Teardown.com business, which takes apart and analyzes new consumer gadgets, recently  examined the insides of Glass and put a cost estimate of $79.78 on its components.

A Google spokesman called Teardown.com’s cost estimate “absolutely wrong.” He declined to comment further.

Possible points of contention may have to do with the physical constraints associated with a pair of eyeglasses.

The Glass display, for example, is only a few millimeters wide, but boasts quite high resolution and could have been tricky and expensive to design and manufacture. But Teardown.com estimated that the display, touchscreen and glass cost Google only $3.

Teardown.com said its figures were a rough estimate based on a quick analysis, and are likely to change when it engages in a more thorough exploration.

“Now that the Glass is part way through the full Deep Dive Teardown analysis we will have a better understanding of what each component costs,” said Thomas Gallant, a spokesman at the research firm, in an email.

Beyond the components, the cost of manufacturing Glass–squeezing all these things into a small, wearable device–may add a lot more to Google’s costs. Glass is also assembled in California, which is typically more expensive to produce manufactured products than parts of Asia where most mobile devices are built.

Then there are uncounted design costs–including the PhDs and engineers, employed and likely paid handsomely by Google, who have worked on Glass since 2011.

Still, Wednesday’s estimate may raise questions about the high price of Glass. Google hopes to reduce the cost, especially when it releases the device for sale to the general public. If the company can sell more Glass gadgets, the higher production volumes will likely help because it will be able to buy more components at lower bulk prices.

As for the key component suppliers, the teardown of Glass revealed some familiar names. Texas Instruments, for example, supplied its OMAP 4430 applications processor, which uses technology licensed for ARM Holdings. Teardown estimated it costs $13.96, making it the single most expensive component.

The firm said Glass use 16 gigabytes of NAND flash memory from Toshiba, at a cost of $8.18 per device.

TechInsights, while producing what may be the first cost estimate, is not the very first to take the device apart. ExtremeTech published results of a  teardown in June 2013, characterizing the components inside Glass as “underwhelming.”