WSJ-owned finance site says Apple thrives on customers’ “butterfingers”

May 23, 2013 15:21 GMT  ·  By

Repair firm iCracked founder AJ Forsythe says there’s a tight control on iPhone 5 components in the market, and since Apple controls almost every part that’s used to make one, the repair costs remain very high.

“Market forces determine the price,” says Forsythe. “Apple sells about 300,000 iPhones a day and, as the repair market grows, prices will get lower,” he notes, according to MarketWatch.

The WSJ-owned financial publication also cites Jeff Haynes, of TechBargains.com, who says, “Apple controls everything from the manufacturing to the gear for the iPhone 5. As the iPhone 5 is larger than the 4, the cost for replacement parts rises.”

The site’s Quentin Fottrell daringly remarks, “Apple earns almost as much from its customers’ butterfingers as it does through corporate tax loopholes,” referring to a debacle which ended up saving Apple tens of billions in tax fares.

MacRumors points out that iFixit currently sells iPhone 4S display assemblies for $95 / €73.74, while the iPhone 5 screen costs a whopping $200 to acquire from the same repair shop.

Of course, the iPhone 5 screen is bigger and the technologies used to make it are likely newer, justifying some of that higher price (but not all of it).