According to the market research firm iSuppli, the sum of BlackBerry Storm’s parts is worth more than those of Apple’s iPhone 3G. The components used to build the new Research in Motion (RIM) smartphone cost about $203, and Verizon Wireless, the exclusive carrier of the phone, sells it for $199 after rebates and with a two-year service contract.

Meanwhile, the total cost of components in Apple’s iPhone 3G, introduced last summer, is $174 and AT&T, the iPhone’s exclusive carrier, sells the 8GB device for $199 with a two-year service contract. However, the prices don’t include the cost of software, licensing of patents, or distribution. They just represent the cost of the actual physical components.

Of course, $29 is not a major difference, but it certainly adds up after millions of phones are sold. For now, neither Verizon nor RIM disclosed how many BlackBerry Storms have been sold, but some reports suggest RIM sold about 500,000 of the devices during the first month the phone was on sale. On the other hand, Apple sold 1.1 million units of the first-generation iPhone in the first two months it was on the market.

Everyone wonders why iPhone’s components are cheaper than Storm’s. Well, the iPhone 3G is a second-generation product and Apple may be getting better component prices from suppliers. Storm’s total component count is 1,177, while the iPhone 3G includes 1,116 components. The Storm also packs in more wireless technologies than the iPhone. Furthermore, Storm uses an expensive chip from Qualcomm, which costs about $35, accounting for 17.2 percent of the Storm’s total component cost.