iPhone 5s $199 Manufacturing Cost (BOM)

The article below discusses "Apple’s Inc.’s new flagship product—the iPhone 5s—features some cutting-edge components that represent pioneering achievements for the smartphone market while maintaining a nearly identical cost compared to the iPhone 5.

The low-end version of the iPhone 5s with 16 gigabytes (GB) of NAND flash memory has a bill of materials (BOM) of $191"

" iPhone 5s to LPDDR3, ... Apple probably used this high-speed, cutting-edge memory—as opposed to the LPDDR2 employed in the original iPhone 5 and 5c—to support the fast processing speeds of the A7.
Such performance comes at a price. The 1 GB of LPDDR3 costs $11.00, up from $9.50 for the same quantity of LPDDR2 in the 5c."

Price of DRAM and NAND memory will have a strong impact on Apple profit margin in the future. Currently on the low end model memory cost is about 10% of iPhone 5s cost, while it is 20% of 64GB model.

Looking at NAND memory price drop in the past, for example, the 16Gbytes of NAND flash in the iPhone 5 is estimated to cost $9.40, down dramatically from $19.20, based on pricing in October 2011. Any  DRAM or NAND price drop will help Apple bottom line


Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Groundbreaking iPhone 5s Carries $199 BOM and Manufacturing Cost, IHS Teardown Reveals 

September 25, 2013 

ANDREW RASSWEILER

Apple’s Inc.’s new flagship product—the iPhone 5s—features some cutting-edge components that represent pioneering achievements for the smartphone market while maintaining a nearly identical cost compared to the iPhone 5.
The low-end version of the iPhone 5s with 16 gigabytes (GB) of NAND flash memory has a bill of materials (BOM) of $191, according to the preliminary results of a physical dissection of the device conducted by the Teardown Analysis Service at IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), a leading global source of critical information and insight.  When the $8 manufacturing expense is added in, the cost rises to $199. The compares to a $197 total cost for the original iPhone 5, based on the completed IHS teardown analysis from one year ago.
“The iPhone 5s features a 64-bit apps processor, low-power Double Data Rate 3 (LPDDR3) DRAM, and a novel fingerprint sensor—features that have never before been seen in a smartphone,” said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, cost benchmarking services for IHS. “In addition, it is very interesting to see that Apple continues to collaborate closely with suppliers to develop unique radio frequency (RF) solutions that give Apple a competitive edge.”
The table below presents the preliminary BOM and manufacturing cost based on a physical dissection of the iPhone 5s conducted by the IHS Teardown Analysis Service. Note that the teardown assessment is preliminary in nature, accounts only for hardware and manufacturing costs and does not include other expenses such as software, licensing, royalties or other expenditures. 

iPhone turns 64Although other smartphones have included 64-bit graphics processors, the 5s is the first model with a 64-bit applications processor, an innovation that has major implications for the iPhone and for Apple’s other product lines.
“The move to the 64-bit apps processor is largely driven by the need for greater computational power to ensure that the smartphone’s fingerprint sensor works quickly and seamlessly,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. “The processor also boosts the performance of the iPhone 5s’s camera, allowing 120 frame-per-second (FPS) video and 10 FPS photo capture. This design change will likely set the stage for 64-bit processors to be used in upcoming Apple products, including new models of the iPad, the Apple TV and even MacBook Air PCs.”
The 64-bit processor is part of the Apple-designed A7 apps processor, based on a core from ARM Holdings plc. The new 64-bit processor core is called “Cyclone,” as opposed to the 32-bit version used in the iPhone 5 and 5c, known as “Swift.”
Despite the well-publicized feud between the companies, Samsung is the manufacturer of Apple’s A7. This likely is because Samsung has a license to ARM's 64-bit core.
The A7 used in the iPhone 5s costs $19—significantly higher than the A6 used in the original iPhone 5 and 5c, which currently carries a cost of $13.
Precious memories In parallel with the upgrade to 64-bit computing, Apple has updated the memory of iPhone 5s to LPDDR3, marking the first time that the IHS Teardown Analysis Service has identified this advanced type of DRAM in an electronic product. Apple probably used this high-speed, cutting-edge memory—as opposed to the LPDDR2 employed in the original iPhone 5 and 5c—to support the fast processing speeds of the A7.
Such performance comes at a price. The 1 GB of LPDDR3 costs $11.00, up from $9.50 for the same quantity of LPDDR2 in the 5c.
Printing moneyThe addition of the fingerprint scanner also represents an increased hardware cost for the 5s. The user-interface segment of the 5s, which includes the fingerprint scanner, costs $15. This compares to just $8 for the user interface for the 5c, which has no fingerprint scanner.
Battle of the bandsAnother major difference between the iPhone 5s and the original iPhone 5 lies in the RF transceiver, which has been updated to support more 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) bands. Like the iPhone 5c, the 5s uses Qualcomm’s WTR1605L RF Transceiver, which supports up to seven simultaneous LTE connections during operations. The original iPhone 5 utilizes the older RTR8600L RF transceiver, also from Qualcomm, which supported only five active LTE bands.
Design stasisOne of the biggest-ticket items in the iPhone 5s gets no change: the display and touch-screen subsystem. Maintaining the same specification and the same suppliers for the panels as the iPhone 5 has helped Apple hold the line on its hardware costs for the 5s. Japan Display Inc., LG Display and Sharp have been the main display suppliers for the iPhone 5 for more than a year, allowing Apple to provide them the opportunity to enhance their manufacturing yields and efficiencies. NAND flash has also not made any significant advances with the 5s, and the amount of the memory content in the phone remains the same.
The table below presents major component suppliers for the iPhone 5s.

 

Higher prices for higher-end phonesThe combined BOM and manufacturing cost for the midrange iPhone 5s with 32 GB of NAND flash is estimated at $208. The 64-GB model’s cost totals $218.

Smartphone: MediaTek Overtaking Qulacomm

The increasing importance of emerging markets to the smartphone market is helping MediaTek to gain on Qualcomm in term of shipment volume as is discussed in the article below.

More on MediaTek growth (from January 2013) with the help of "Coolpad, Huawei, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE surged ahead of Apple.."




Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

 

 

 

Commentary: Qualcomm likely to be dethroned by MediaTek as the largest handset solution vendor

Cage Chao, Taipei; Steve Shen,  [Wednesday 24 July 2013]

 

With the planned release of LTE-enabled and 8-core SoCs in the fourth quarter of 2013, MediaTek will advance one-step further to beat venerable rival Qualcomm to become the world's largest supplier of smartphone solutions in terms of shipment volume.

 

Already taking up an over 50% of the solution market for the entry-level to mid-range smartphones in China and other emerging markets, the launch of LTE and 8-core CPUs will help ramp up MediaTek's share in the high-end smartphone solution market.

 

Additionally, the developments of application CPUs by Apple and Samsung Electronics, in-house for their high-end smartphones have worked to limit Qualcomm's growth potential in the high-end smartphone solution market as Apple and Samsung were previously the two major high-end smartphone solution clients for Qualcomm.

 

The outstanding performance-price ratio of MediaTeks' smartphone solutions combined with market proven records of China-based branded and white-box smartphone vendors to launch differentiated models by optimizing MediaTek solutions have enabled the Taiwan-based fabless IC house to push sales of its smartphone solutions to Sony Mobile Communications, LG Electronics and Motorola Mobility, and therefore further expanding its share in the global handset solution market.

41.6% Worldwide Growth of Smartphones in First Quarter

Statistics about operating system market shares of smart phones in first quarter of 2013 are detailed below.

"Android OEMs shipped 162.1 million handsets in the quarter, giving the platform a 75% share of total worldwide shipments, while Apple’s 37.4 million devices"

More Smartphone/ OS Market share: Apple, Samsung, HTC...

Samsung Galaxy S4 will increase Androids' second quarter market shares. 

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

IDC: Android OEMs Shipped 162M Smartphones In Q1, More Than 4X Apple’s Rate; Windows Phone Now In (Distant) Third

INGRID LUNDEN  posted yesterday

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/16/idc-android-oems-shipped-162m-smartphones-in-q1-more-than-4x-apples-rate-windows-phone-now-a-distant-third/

IDC today was the latest to publish its numbers on smartphone market shares after the major handset makers released Q1 earnings, and like Gartner,Strategy Analytics and the rest, it underscores the power of Google’s Android platform at the moment: Android OEMs shipped 162.1 million handsets in the quarter, giving the platform a 75% share of total worldwide shipments, while Apple’s 37.4 million devices put it at an increasingly distant second position at 17.3%. Microsoft’s Windows Phone, driven primarily by its partner Nokia (79% of all WP shipments), grew the most of all platforms, with a rise of 133.3%, but that still puts it at a single-digit share, 3.2% on 7 million devices shipped.

That meant that Microsoft has now overtaken BlackBerry, which declined by just over 35% with 6.5 million shipments, ending with a 2.9% market share.

Important to note that IDC specifies that this is devices shipped, not sold. Some analysts have told me that the two are effectively interchangeable terms, but shipped is also potentially a more optimistic figure: it points to how well retailers and carriers think certain models are likely to sell in the quarter ahead. Occasionally these can lag compared to how well certain handset makers are actually doing if a device ends up selling worse than expected.

What “shipped” numbers like IDC’s say is that Android and iOS continue to, more or less, remain the only games in town in terms of how confident sales channels feel about shifting devices, with other platforms relegated to niche status. This is something that companies like BlackBerry are trying to change, as evidenced by a recent deal to extend a $256 million loan to Telefonica for purchasing BlackBerry devices.

IDC’s numbers show that together these two platforms accounted for nearly 200 million units (199.5 million) shipped, up 59% over a year ago. The smaller players are not to be dismissed, though. Not only is Windows Phone the most rapidly rising of all platforms at the moment, but IDC notes that BlackBerry’s BB10 new range have hit 1 million shipped devices this quarter.

But turnaround will only come with that kind of growth being sustained. “Given the relatively low volume generated, the Windows Phone camp will need to show further gains to solidify its status as an alterative to Android or iOS,” writes Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC.

For the time being, the message to users, and to app developers, is that these are the platforms where you want to be. Considering how key content has been as a route to attracting users to these devices, that will continue to pose a challenge for the smaller players.

As with Strategy Analytics’ numbers yesterday detailing the profitability of different smartphone platforms in the quarter, IDC notes that Samsung is by far the “clear leader” in Android. It notes that it had a 41.1% market share. As a sign of the ongoing fragmentation of players on the platform, no other single OEM had more than a single-digit percentage market share after that, “and an even longer list of vendors with market share less than one percent.” The fact that it’s still “free” to license Android, and relatively easy to modify it for a more custom experience, will mean that it will continue to be the platform of choice for OEMs looking for more revenues from the ongoing boom in smartphones.

As we saw in Apple’s earnings earlier in the quarter, the company’s sales of iPhones are at an all-time high, but in comparison to the growth of the rest of the market, it’s actually off, with market share down nearly six percentage points. There is some feeling that part of this is due to the fact that the platform appears stale compared to all the change going on elsewhere with software and hardware features, news handsets and more. “Although demand remains strong worldwide, the iOS experience has remained largely the same since the first iPhone debuted in 2007,” IDC notes, pointing to a “massive overhaul” that appears to be on the cards with iOS 7.

IDC also notes that over the last year, shares of the biggest platforms have fluctuated, although Android’s current 75% is the highest in a year. Against that, the last time that Android approached 75%, in Q3 2012, Apple’s share was only 14.5% as people held out for a new iPhone model. That shows that Apple’s growth this quarter was at the expense of declines for other smaller platforms.

photo: flick
r

Smartphone/ OS Market share: Apple, Samsung, HTC...

It will be interesting to see how Samsung Galaxy S4 will impact second quarter market shares. See below results from first quarter 2013.





Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

comScore Reports March 2013 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share

Android Phone and iPhone Now Combine for 91 Percent of U.S. Smartphone User Base

http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2013/5/comScore_Reports_March_2013_U.S._Smartphone_Subscriber_Market_Share

RESTON, VA, May 3, 2013 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry during the three month average period ending March 2013. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 39 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the #1 smartphone platform with 52 percent platform market share.

Smartphone OEM Market Share

136.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (58 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in March, up 9 percent since December. Apple ranked as the top OEM with 39 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 2.7 percentage points from December). Samsung ranked second with 21.7 percent market share (up 0.7 percentage points), followed by HTC with 9 percent, Motorola with 8.5 percent and LG with 6.8 percent.

Top Smartphone OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2012 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
	Dec-12	Mar-13	Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Apple	36.3%	39.0%	2.7
Samsung	21.0%	21.7%	0.7
HTC	10.2%	9.0%	-1.2
Motorola	9.1%	8.5%	-0.6
LG	7.1%	6.8%	-0.3

Smartphone Platform Market Share

Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 52 percent market share (71.1 million subscribers), while Apple’s share increased 2.7 percentage points to 39 percent (53.3 million subscribers). BlackBerry ranked third with 5.2 percent share, followed by Microsoft (3 percent) and Symbian (0.5 percent).

Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2012 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
	Dec-12	Mar-13	Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Google	53.4%	52.0%	-1.4
Apple	36.3%	39.0%	2.7
BlackBerry	6.4%	5.2%	-1.2
Microsoft	2.9%	3.0%	0.1
Symbian	0.6%	0.5%	-0.1

About MobiLens
MobiLens data is derived from an intelligent online survey of a nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and older. Data on mobile phone usage refers to a respondent’s primary mobile phone and does not include data related to a respondent’s secondary device

1st Time Smartphones Outsold Feature Phones

The article below documents the fast pace of smartphones' growth and shows that for the first quarter of 2013, the sales of smartphones surpassed feature phones. Smartphone growth is driven by access to fingertip computing anywhere, anytime (see 2010 article Four Billion Cell Users : Computing Power Anytime, Anyplace).

between the five top vendors, Apple loss market share and had the smallest increase of growth between 2012 and 2013. This is due to the growth in emerging countries where the iPhone is too expensive relative to other smartphones. It is not likely that Apple will introduce an inexpensive iPhone in China considering the tough price competition it would face from the much cheaper Android phones. People in emerging countries are more price conscious. Apple will want to maintain its high quality brand and its higher pricing and is likely to repeat its Mac vs PC history see the 2008 story -Are iPhone and Android Smart Phones Repeating the History of Mac vs. PC in the 80s

The fast growth of smartphones in 2012 and 2013 by Huawei, ZTE, CoolPad, and other companies in emerging countries was made possible by the chips manufactured by MediaTek (see January story about MediaTek Apples' Cook in China (MediaTek Impact)).

Ron

Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.Semiconductor information and news at - www.maltiel-consulting.com

 

Smartphones outpace feature phones for first time ever

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57581566-94/smartphones-outpace-feature-phones-for-first-time-ever/

by Jonathan Skillings , April 26, 2013 5:29 AM PDT

 

In the first quarter of 2013, smartphones accounted for more than half of phone makers' shipments worldwide. Samsung remained the top dog, but LG, Huawei, and ZTE all saw big gains.

LG returned to IDC's smartphone Top 5 in the first quarter of 2013 with record-high shipments, riding a strong interest in its LTE-enabled devices, including the Optimus G.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

It seemed inevitable, and now it has happened: for the first time ever, feature phones have taken a backseat to smartphones in terms of quantities shipped.

In the first quarter of 2013, device makers shipped 216.2 million smartphones worldwide, a volume that accounted for 51.6 percent of total global shipments and that marked the first time smartphones have claimed more than half of all quarterly shipments, according to market researcher IDC.

The smartphone market grew 41.6 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012, but declined 5.1 percent from the shipment tally for the fourth quarter of 2012. The first quarter of the year typically sees a slowdown, especially in comparison with the holiday-shopping-filled fourth quarter.

The first quarter saw a total of 418.6 million mobile phones -- both smartphones and the less-powerful feature phones -- shipped worldwide, IDC said Thursday.

"Phone users want computers in their pockets," IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement. "The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away."

(Credit: IDC/Screenshot by CNET)

See more additional table and statistic about the whole mobile vendors

Apples' Cook in China (MediaTek Impact)

Apple is having hard time competing in emerging market due to MediaTek.

Apple CEO Cook Returns to China Amid Falling Market Share

The New York Times article below expands about MediaTek rise.

"Despite having reported record sales of the iPhone 5, the U.S. technology giant’s presence on the mainland flagged in 2012; it was pushed out of the top five smartphone makers in that market during the third quarter, with just 8 percent of the market, according to the research firm Canalys.

As Coolpad, Huawei, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE surged ahead of Apple, a major force behind their success was MediaTek, a Taiwanese chip maker...entered the smartphone business late, introducing its first chipset in 2011 inside a Lenovo phone. But within a year and a half, analysts say, MediaTek has taken 50 percent of China’s market for smartphone chips.

That success has come with the adoption of what MediaTek calls a “turnkey solution.” Rather than simply provide a chip, the company also offers instructions on how to build a phone, the software architecture to run it and dedicated consultants to advise phone makers through the production process"

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Providing a Template to Challenge Apple

By LIN YANG, January 6, 2013

TAIPEI — In the China smartphone market, Apple has seen better days.

Despite having reported record sales of the iPhone 5, the U.S. technology giant’s presence on the mainland flagged in 2012; it was pushed out of the top five smartphone makers in that market during the third quarter, with just 8 percent of the market, according to the research firm Canalys.

As Coolpad, Huawei, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE surged ahead of Apple, a major force behind their success was MediaTek, a Taiwanese chip maker whose products have drastically reduced the cost for manufacturers of getting new phones to market.

The company entered the smartphone business late, introducing its first chipset in 2011 inside a Lenovo phone. But within a year and a half, analysts say, MediaTek has taken 50 percent of China’s market for smartphone chips.

That success has come with the adoption of what MediaTek calls a “turnkey solution.” Rather than simply provide a chip, the company also offers instructions on how to build a phone, the software architecture to run it and dedicated consultants to advise phone makers through the production process. MediaTek’s chief financial officer, David Ku, describes this as a franchise model in which all the clients have to do is “turn on the burner.”

Peter Liao, an analyst at Nomura Securities who covers the industry, said MediaTek saved phone makers the often prohibitive cost of research and development.

“It typically takes a lot of money and time to develop a new handset model, but MediaTek comes in and provides a total solution,” Mr. Liao said.

The company has proved wildly popular among Chinese phone makers. Besides supplying Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE, MediaTek also supports lesser-known manufacturers, including those that make so-called bandit phones that imitate premium models from Apple, Samsung and HTC.

TCL Communication Technology Holdings, a Chinese phone maker that sells phones primarily in Europe and Latin America, uses MediaTek’s chips. Its chief operating officer, Wang Jiyang, said that when his company works with MediaTek, its only major design tasks are to make the software more user-friendly and to tailor the look and feel of the phone.
“In general, with MediaTek’s help, we’re able to achieve almost twice as fast time to market, compared to other solutions,” Mr. Wang said.

MediaTek was founded in 1997. It started out making chips for home entertainment electronics like DVD players and televisions before moving into components for CD and DVD-ROM devices. In 2004, it began making chips for small mobile phones.
MediaTek estimates that it will lead the Chinese market by selling 110 million smartphone chips in 2012, up from 10 million chips a year ago.
By comparison, Qualcomm, the global leader in smartphone chips, is expected to finish 2012 in second place in China with 82 million chips shipped, according to the research firm DigiTimes.
MediaTek has been powered by consumers like Zhang Ying, 31, who want to try the latest technology but not pay a premium for it. Mr. Zhang, a Shanghai resident, bought a knockoff HTC phone last year. “Every person has a price point,” he said. “At a time when some of my friends were buying Samsung or iPhone, I wanted to show that I can keep up with them. A lot of domestic phones are cheap and of fairly good quality.”
People who think like Mr. Zhang are dominating sales, especially among first-time smartphone buyers. In a September report, McKinsey, the global consulting firm, estimated that 69 percent of all smartphones sold in China would cost less than 1,500 renminbi, or about $240, by the second half of 2013.
And MediaTek is taking its business model to other emerging markets. The company’s products support features that are popular in developing countries, like noise-reducing speakers and slots for two SIM cards.
In India, local brands like Spice and Micromax are rolling out lower-priced smartphone models using MediaTek parts. In Brazil, phones by Motorola Mobility, as well as local brands like Gradiente and Multilaser, will also have MediaTek chips.
“The markets we target have 5.8 billion people, whereas the U.S. and Europe have less than one billion,” said Mr. Ku of MediaTek. “I need to aim at a global market, not just developed countries.”

MediaTek also released a chip last year for building basic smartphones that work in regions without mobile data networks. Users of these phones rely on Wi-Fi connections to download multimedia. These phones can cost as little as $50, or 312 renminbi.

Those chips now account for 40 percent of MediaTek’s smartphone chip sales, according to the company.

Mark Hung, an analyst at the research firm Gartner, calls the network-less chip one of the “fastest-growing smartphone segments,” as many consumers are looking to switch from their simple mobile phones to basic, low-cost smartphones.

“This is a fairly new phenomenon, and as you can expect, mostly in emerging markets, including China,” Mr. Hung said.

For now, Apple has signaled that it has no intention of competing on price. The iPhone 5, released in China on Dec. 14, cost 300 renminbi more than the two previous models, the iPhone 4S and 4, on their release days. More than two million units of the iPhone 5 were sold during its first weekend.

By contrast, Coolpad, Huawei, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE have rolled out new phones with similar performance at a third of the iPhone 5’s price of 5,288 renminbi, and sometimes less.

“We believe that emerging countries should also be able to enjoy the use of information technology with the same computing power,” said Tsai Ming-kai, chief executive of MediaTek.

As the world’s largest market for smartphones, China is quickly becoming a bellwether for the progress of sales wars globally. The Chinese experience may show that any leading market position can be fickle, and new brands can appear seemingly out of nowhere to capture significant market shares.

Apple remains No. 2 in smartphone shipments worldwide after Samsung, but its position could be threatened as the competition expands to more consumers and more price points.

“Emerging economies are getting stronger,” Mr. Tsai said. “The industry dynamic is always evolving. Anything can happen.”

Is Samsung Cutting Qualcomm's Cord?

Samsung continues its successful juggernaut of supporting competitors chips while introducing its own products. Their advances in process and circuit technology such as Through Silicon Via (TSV) will strengthen their edge.


Is this a lesson for Intel on how to leverage their technology edge...

Ron Maltiel




Samsung cuts dependence on Qualcomm
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2012/03/129_107204.html
By Kim Yoo-chul,  03-19-2012
Smartphone maker plans to use in-house chips for Galaxy S III

Samsung Electronics will use its single-chip solutions for its next smartphone, the Galaxy S III, to lower dependence on U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm.

The move comes as Samsung, the world’s top memory chipmaker, aggressively shifting focus to more profitable and less-volatile non-memory chips.Memory chips like DRAMs and NAND flashes are used to read and write data with these chips being commoditized. Thus they are cheap, compared with non-memory chips. Non-memories are to control an entire computing system and require advanced chip-making technology.

``Samsung’s single-chip solution is a combination of long-term evolution (LTE), telecommunications and W-CDMA functions,’’ a high-ranking company executive said Monday.The firm’s Exynos-branded quad-core mobile application processors (APs) are to be equipped in the Galaxy S II’s successor, according to the executive.``We don’t think there will be big technology-related problems as we have already tested our telecommunications chips in some smartphones and tablets for consumers in North America. Also, Google’s first reference mobile, the Galaxy Nexus, is using Samsung's telecom chips,’’ said the executive.
``Samsung has a stronger intent to lower its dependence on Qualcomm and our technicians believe that we have made significant progress in producing logic-based chips for high-end devices, combined logic and memory chips for graphic controllers and core communication chips for Internet-enabled consumer devices,’’ said the executive.

Amid the explosive growth for LTE-enabled smartphones globally, the decision could hurt San Diego-based Qualcomm in the mid- to long-term, according to analysts.``Samsung is paying huge amounts to Qualcomm in return for using its single-chip solutions in strategic digital devices, however, Qualcomm is gradually losing its edge,’’ said another Samsung executive. Both executives asked not to be identified as they don’t have the right to officially speak to the media.

Samsung, which was the world’s biggest smartphone seller last year, plans to sell 250 million smartphones this year, up 25 percent from its earlier target of 200 million.


Ambitious Samsung, uneasy Qualcomm
So far, Samsung Electronics is an earnings propeller for Qualcomm because the American firm was the sole provider of one-chip solutions. ``It was believed that Qualcomm chips had greater stability and suited easy upgrades. But, that’s the old story,’’ said the Samsung executives.

In line with its plan, Samsung is improving ``through silicon via’’ (TSV) memory stocking technology. ``Our long-term plan is clear. Using Samsung solutions for Samsung products.’’

To prevent Qualcomm from losing one of its top customers, it recently announced the launch of its fifth-generation Gobi reference platform that seeks to pack support nearly all major worldwide mobile standards into a single chip. Based on the company’s Gobi LTE wireless baseband modems, the MDM9615 and MDM9215 deliver fast LTE connectivity with backwards compatibility to both HSPA+ and EV-DO networks, Qualcomm insists.

``This will allow support for regional LTE frequencies with backwards compatibility to existing 2G and 3G technologies, allowing Gobi LTE devices to connect to faster LTE network locallys and stay connected to the Internet globally on 3G networks worldwide,’’ it added.

Both Qualcomm officials in South Korea, and Samsung Electronics spokesman Ken Noh declined to comment on the Korean firm’s plans.

Samsung’s transition towards becoming a solutions provider and a chip supplier is strengthening as its mobile head Shin Jong-kyun is injecting more resources to expand the management of its own telecom chips.``Our division is not just to produce smartphones and tablets. In order to diversify portfolios, our division should do better for telecom chips,’’ said Shin.
The chip division is handling mobile APs and the head of the company’s device solution unit, which encompasses flat-screens and memory chips, recently told The Korea Times that its mobile AP-making factory in Austin, Texas, became fully operational last year. Apple’s i-devices use Samsung’s mobile APs produced at the Austin plant.

The Exynos chip is currently built using a 45-nanometer process but the new Exynos chip will be made with 32-nanometer technology, giving better performance quality without using as much power. Samsung said that in terms of performance, it gives up to 26 percent more than the current 45-nanometer chip, with battery life improved by half. The new version will be used in the Galaxy S III.

This in itself is good news for consumers who rely on battery performance when choosing devices.``The development of quad-core mobile APs is finalized and the decision to make one-chip solutions was by Shin,’’ said an executive at the company’s semiconductor division.``If Samsung successfully strengthens its management for telecommunications chips, then it expects to see more revenue from smartphones and tablets. That’s the scenario we hope,’’ said the unnamed executive.
Samsung has a cross-licensing deal with Qualcomm until 2024 to use the American firm’s single-chip solutions.
Switzerland-based brokerage UBS has raised its target for Samsung Electronics shares to 1.48 million won citing a rising shares in smartphones.

Is Mobile Computing the Next Big Market?

mailto:ron@maltiel-consulting.com- Semiconductor & Patent Expert Consulting
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Articles:
1. Is Mobile Computing the Next Big Market?
2. Light and Cheap, Netbooks Are Poised to Reshape PC Industry /New York Times
3.Netbooks, smart phones: Will the twain meet? /EETimes
4. Lighter on Laps and Wallets /New York Times

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Is Mobile Computing the Next Big Market?
April 15, 2009
A new market is being developed, driven by the increasing demand for convenient mobile internet access. Today this demand is being met by netbook computers and the iPhone and its competitors. Netbook computers are now selling more units than desktop computers. The consumer wants a device that is cheaper, lighter, smaller, and has a longer battery life than the traditional laptop. The demand for the iPhone grew quickly because of its ability to meet these needs in a user friendly platform.
Lighter on Laps and Wallets describes the myriad of ways that people today are using their netbook computers.

Ron Maltiel (408) 446-3040