With manufacturing costs, Apple could build the thing for less than $350, says an analyst

Sports Illustrated on a tablet. Source: Time Inc.

[UPDATE: iSuppli has since issued their own virtual teardown. See Apple can build a $500 iPad for $240.]

Here's a neat trick. In a report to clients Wednesday, Susquehanna Financial's Jeffrey Fidacaro published an estimate of how much Apple (AAPL) is spending to build a device that hasn't been announced, never mind shipped.

Vaporware issues aside, it's not that big a stretch, thanks to the teardown experts at iSuppli who pegged the bill of materials for a 16GB iPhone 3GS at $180.

Using that a starting point, Fidacaro threw in the extra cost of a larger screen, bigger battery etc. and came out with a total of $347, as detailed in the schedule below the fold.

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