Stefan Mileschin

Google's $1,500 price tag for its Google Glass project might be just rampant profiteering as it only costs the outfit $80 to make.

A teardown published by Teardown.com said that the hardware used in the Glass amounts to a mere $80. The CPU, a TI OMAP 4430, was the costliest item on the list at $13.96. All the wireless sensors as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios combined accounted for $10.79, while the 5 MP camera was valued in at $5.66. The touchscreen display was said to be one of the costliest components in the Glass, but Teardown's analysis revealed that it only costs $3.

This $80 is much lower than a teardown which was carried out last year which revealed that the bill of materials for the device was at $208. Even accounting for the cost involved in customising the hardware to fit into the unique design of the Glass, the device would not have cost Google more than $250 to manufacture.

Google has always said that the $1,500 price for the Glass was to limit the device only to technology enthusiasts. It said that a consumer version of Glass would launch later this year, although the price of this device wasn't mentioned. Considering it comes with similar hardware as the current iteration, it should be around the $300–$350 mark.

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