iDay+4: iPhone Buzz Index hits new high of 19,320 as the majority of Apple Stores sell out

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And we thought the iPhone buzz was over.

The number of news stories over the past 24 hours containing the word iPhone rose to 19,320 today heading toward tomorrow's holiday. I suppose it was either the iPhone or Scooter Libby for many reporters on this somewhat slow news week.

The Apple Stores are finally depleting their stocks of iPhones. According to last night's tally from Apple, 97 stores are now sold out of iPhones, leaving only 68 with stock today. Your best bets at present seem to be Texas and New Jersey. Colorado, Connecticutt, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, and North Carolina are now the only states where all the Apple stores in the state still have iPhone stocks. I'm sure that will change as new supplies get airlifted in.

iSupply claims that an iPhone costs just $265.83 to make, yielding a 55% margins over parts costs for Apple. Samsung appears to garner more than 30% of that cost for the ships it supplies. There are no surprises there -- remember that Apple did a deal for a billion and a quarter dollars of flash memory in 2005 with Samsung, and it more recently has been shopping for 500 million Samsung NAND flash chips. Despite their competition in the mobile phone handset business, Samsung is now a critical supply partner as well.

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