The BOM is the hardware engineer’s cost sheet and the manufacturer’s shopping list. For an IoT device it typically includes the microcontroller or SoC, the radio or IoT module, sensors, power management, battery, antenna, passive components, printed circuit board, enclosure and packaging. The BOM cost per unit, which falls with volume, drives pricing and margins and is the first place a team looks when a product needs to be cheaper.
Trade-offs show up line by line. A secure element adds cost but simplifies certification and key storage; an integrated module costs more than a bare chip but cuts NRE and certification time. Component availability is a BOM risk in its own right, so alternates are often listed. The hardware BOM is distinct from a software bill of materials, which inventories code rather than parts.
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