RIM's Storm costlier to make than iPhone

TORONTO, USA: Research In Motion's touchscreen BlackBerry Storm costs almost $30 more to produce than rival Apple Inc's iPhone 3G, according to an analysis by technology research firm iSuppli Corp.

In its report, iSuppli said the Storm, which RIM launched late last year to compete with the popular iPhone, has a materials and manufacturing cost of $202.89.

That compares with $174.33 for the initial production costs of an 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G, iSuppli said.

It said the Storm's total component count stands at 1,177, while the iPhone's is 1,116.

RIM has pushed aggressively into the broader consumer market to diversify its subscriber base beyond the executives, politicians and other professionals who have been its mainstay.

Models like the Storm, as well as the earlier BlackBerry Pearl and a flip version of the smartphone, are all laden with multimedia features to attract non-business users.

On Wednesday, Verizon Wireless said it had sold 1 million units of the Storm in the United States since its November launch.