It's nothing but a pure show of scale of economies.
They can only get to a low build cost because they know they can sell then end product and not only that, sell it as a premium device.
Go ask the "other" tablet manufacturers who'd have trouble making an etch-a-sketch for less than the retail price of a iPad. They don't have the same confidence in what they're selling, therefore they're buy much lower quantities of raw materials and paying a much higher price.
It also helps when you can build factories for your suppliers in return for a period of exclusivity and even lower prices.
Masters of the supply chain.
They can only get to a low build cost because they know they can sell then end product and not only that, sell it as a premium device.
Go ask the "other" tablet manufacturers who'd have trouble making an etch-a-sketch for less than the retail price of a iPad. They don't have the same confidence in what they're selling, therefore they're buy much lower quantities of raw materials and paying a much higher price.
It also helps when you can build factories for your suppliers in return for a period of exclusivity and even lower prices.
Masters of the supply chain.