IHS iSuppli: 3DS costs $100 To Make

The total bill for materials in a Nintendo 3DS is about $100, a 33 percent increase over the previous incarnations of the device.

IHS iSuppli did a teardown of the device, and checked the prices of components with the manufacturers. While the 3DS has only just hit the shelves in the U.S., it has been available in Japan for about a month.

The total cost of parts for a 3DS is $100.71, against $78.12 for a DSi. Adding the $2.54 cost of manufacturing (per unit), iSuppli says, gives a total cost of $103.25. The retail price in the U.S. is $249.99.

The most expensive piece of the console is the display, which cost $33.80. That's similar to the DSi, which had a $21.95 display. Both were made by Sharp. The price of the processor rose somewhat as well, to $10.02 in the 3DS from $8.71 in the DSi.

One distinguishing feature of the 3DS -- and a lot of other Nintendo products - is the heavy reliance on parts from Japan. The IHS iSuppli analysis notes that Nintendo is more vulnerable to supply problems that could result from the recent earthquake, which has caused many disruptions in both shipping and manufacturing due to power shortages.

Some features that one might expect to add to the price have actually become cheaper in the years since the DSi was rolled out. Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, teardown services at IHS, noted that the triple camera system the 3DS uses to take 3D photos is only slightly more expensive than the DSi's dual camera system, in part because VGA cameras have become so much cheaper.

The table below lays out the costs and compares the 3DS and DSi.