iPhone Inside Secrets

After spending six months researching and developing the iPhone, experts at Apple declared it was too advanced to be copied by competitors.

Just to be sure, they filed more than 200 patents protecting the gadget, which combines touch-screen technology with internet access and a hi-tech camera.

But the mysteries behind the sleek, black plastic casing have not remained secret very long. Just a week after it was launched inAmerica, hundreds of enthusiasts have ripped the £300 phone apart to discover what makes it work.

Detailed pictures, photographs and videos of the disassembled phones have appeared online, complete with step-bystep instructions on how to build your own.

Among them is a You Tube video showing two teenagers banging away at an iPhone with a hammer, which has so far garnered 56,000 views.

Andrew Rassweiler, an analyst with market research firm iSuppli, one of the first to dissect the device, said it had taken his team three days to catalogue the mechanisms for the mobile handset.

“With every new release of an Apple product, the hype and interest ratchets up a notch,” he said. “We have had more people thrown at it than we have thrown at any other previous product.”

Mr Rassweiler said his prime motive for ripping the iPhone apart was to discover how much the elements cost - around $266 (£130), less than half the retail cost of the device.

“Apple’s overall profit margins are more than 55 per cent,” he said. “That makes its margin a lot higher than its competitors’.”

But Kyle Wiens, co-founder of the website Ifixit.com, which has conducted one of the most sophisticated dismantlings, said it was worth every penny: “Apple have done some things that are above and beyond. It’s very innovative.”

Apple keeps a tight grip on information about parts, so revelations about components are closely watched by investors keen to figure out where to buy shares.

Since Skyworks Solutions was revealed as the supplier of a power amplifier used in the iPhone, its shares have jumped 5 percent to $7.61.

Another company profiting from the iPhone is Cambridge Silicon Radio. Researchers say the British company is responsible for making chips that allow Bluetooth wireless connectivity for the product.

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