The $999 iPhone X is estimated to include less than $400 in parts

IHS Markit

• A research firm has taken apart the iPhone X and estimates the cost of its parts at $370.25.
• The findings suggest that the iPhone X is significantly more expensive to manufacture than the iPhone 8.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook said in 2015 that he's never seen an estimate like this that is anywhere close to accurate.

The $999 iPhone X includes some expensive components to justify its price, the highest starting price for any smartphone in history. All told, the iPhone X has a "bill of materials" cost of $370.25, according to IHS Markit, an analysis firm that takes apart consumer electronics and publishes research about their components.

The most expensive part of the new iPhone X? The new OLED screen, made by Samsung, which costs Apple $110 per display, according to IHS analysis.

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Other big ticket prices identified by the teardown include the iPhone X stainless steel enclosure, which costs $61, and its rear dual-lens camera module, which costs $35. The report also examines the parts in Apple's new TrueDepth camera, a front-facing camera that can capture 3D images. The teardown found that the "sensing suite" had a cost of $16.70 for the part.

IHS doesn't include estimates for marketing costs, software development, assembly, or other factors in its teardown analysis. Still, based on the parts included in the iPhone X, it looks as if Apple is maintaining its typical hardware margins for the device, which includes a hefty markup around 60% over the cost of the parts by themselves.

IHS previously found that the iPhone 8, one of the other new iPhone models Apple introduced this year, had a bill of materials cost of $255.16 for a device that commands a starting price of $700.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is famously dismissive of cost estimates like the one published by IHS. In 2015 he said during an earnings call that he had never seen one that was "anywhere close to being accurate."

More recently, Cook was asked about the iPhone X price on Good Morning America. "It's a value price, actually, for the technology you're getting," he said.

The full BOM estimate is below:

IHS Markit