A cheaper locked iPhone?

Forbes quotes the iSuppi teardown of the iPhone 3G, wondering whether Apple will sell a $99 iPhone. Of the $166 in parts, $60 goes for the CPU that Apple buys from Samsung (and wants to make on its own) and $20 for the fancy touchscreen.

Given Apple’s desired gross margin, Forbes estimates the phone sells to AT&T for $500 (sorry, the math doesn’t work for $600) which AT&T recovers with its $360/year data plan.

It must be a slow news day, because in the end Brian Caulfield concludes that they could sell one but they won’t. I think the ARM CPU rumor was more plausible.