This year, the iPhone 17 Pro Max retains its starting price from last year, set at 9999 yuan.

While it's far from being a budget-friendly option, this smartphone is still facing a shortage in supply. At present, placing an order for it on Apple's official website entails a waiting period of roughly a month. This makes it even more in-demand compared to last year's iPhone 16 PM.

Some have carried out a detailed breakdown analysis of this phone, asserting that the Bill of Materials (BOM) cost for a 256GB iPhone 17 PM is approximately $535 (around 3820 yuan).

So, based on this calculation, it appears that Apple could potentially earn 6179 yuan per phone.

However, to be honest, the calculation isn't as straightforward as it seems. The figure of 6179 yuan merely represents the income after subtracting hardware costs. To accurately ascertain Apple's actual profit, we need to delve into the net profit.

Firstly, as evident from the official website, taxes amount to 1157 yuan, which Apple duly pays to the government. Purchasing an Apple phone means making a contribution to national taxes, and this contribution is no less significant than that made by domestic phone brands.

Secondly, we must also take into account Apple's research and development costs, management expenses, marketing expenditures, and logistics costs.

Take research and development costs as an example. Apple's annual R&D expenses surpass 30 billion US dollars. When averaged out per phone, this is a substantial amount. Factoring in various other expenses, the hidden costs here are extremely high.

In fact, a glance at Apple's financial reports for the past two quarters reveals that Apple's final profit margin stands at only around 25%.

This implies that, on average, when Apple sells an iPhone 17 Pro Max priced at 9999 yuan, its actual final profit is merely around 2500 yuan.

Moreover, this is an average figure that encompasses phones, computers, internet services, and other business segments. The profit margin for hardware is lower compared to that of software, services, and internet businesses. Apple's App Store generates tens of billions of dollars for Apple each year, boasting an exceptionally high profit margin.

Therefore, when Apple sells an iPhone 17 Pro Max priced at 9999 yuan, it may not necessarily pocket 2500 yuan in profit.

Of course, when compared to the vast majority of domestic phones, this profit figure is already quite substantial. The profit margins of most domestic phones are less than 5%, with only a handful of high-priced models possibly reaching this level.

The reason domestic phones have lower profit margins can be attributed to various factors. One significant factor is that domestic brands employ a 'machine sea' strategy, launching an excessive number of models. The more models there are, the lower the sales volume for each individual model becomes. This leads to higher overall hardware costs, design costs, marketing costs, and logistics costs, ultimately reducing profits.