It's been clear for some time that the iPhone is a huge moneymaker for both Apple and its US carrier AT&T, as well as the constellation of component suppliers that make parts for it. Tracking the actual dollar figures, though, is a difficult task given the complexity of the iPhone ecosystem and the secrecy surrounding Apple and AT&T's business relationship. A post on GigaOM this week, though, took a stab at pulling together what's known and believed to be true about the iPhone business, and did it in an innovative, highly readable format. Instead of a long post filled with dry facts and figures, the site created a graphic with simple charts and graphs. It's an interesting "read."
For the 5.2 million iPhones it built in the third quarter of this year, Apple spent $1 billion with its components...