Analysts have estimated that the total costs of the Nintendo 3DS hardware components (a so-called ´bill of materials´ or B.O.M. estimate) comes to $100. The figure was made public by Eurogamer who have been given a preliminary estimate by David Carey, VP of technical intelligence for UBM TechInsights.
Bear in mind that the costs for assembly and distribution are not included and Nintendo will be keen on recouping their research and development investments, too. Still, the margin between the $100 B.O.M. and a $250 retail price appears unusually large, even given that Nintendo does not subsidise their consoles. After all, the positive reaction of journalists after the 3DS outing at E3 2010 was to blame that for the console to be marked up somewhat.