It turns out Google has been selling its landmark Google Glass wearable headset at something of an eye-watering profit. According to the guys over at teardown.com, the Glass costs just a measly $79.78 (£47) to make.

Estimates as to the cost of assembly range from about £3-4 per device, so the entire cost of the device isn't going to be much more than a few pennies over 50 quid. Considering the device currently retails at $1500 (£890), that's quite a hefty mark-up.

Of course, developing all of the software and apps and everything else that makes the Glass run took an enormous investment from Google – probably somewhere in the range of millions of developer hours.

Still, the Glass relies only on a modified version of Google's Android operating system, and also uses the company's existing voice recognition technology.

Still, with such a small amount going into components, Google must be more than just a little worried about its less R&D-heavy rivals like Samsung swooping in at the last minute to undercut them significantly.

Hopefully it means that at some point in the future, the Google Glass's price will come down to something more in the order of a smartphone.

We spent some hands-on time with Google Glass last year. So what's the device like? Read our first impressions in our hands-on preview of Google Glass.

Read more: Thoughts after using Google Glass for almost a year: Is this the future of wearables?