Galaxy S5 BOM $256, iPhone $191, $173

IHS released a teardown of Samsung’s Galaxy S5, the estimated bill of materials of $256 BOM keeps going up from previous cell phone generations. See more in the article below;

"IHS found that the Galaxy S3 had a BOM of $205, while the S4 ended up at $233 (LTE version with Qualcomm 600 SoC). On top of that, a Galaxy S series phone costs upwards of $8 to assemble."

While "the iPhone 5S had a BOM of $191 when it launched last September, while the iPhone 5C had $173 worth of components inside its unapologetically plastic body."

Like in Apple's phone DRAM and NAND are a high cost items and as semiconductor manufacturing advance along its learning curve it will increase Samsung margin.

1. 1080p display is the most expensive component, costing about $65
2. DRAM and NAND memory is around $33
3. Unclear how much the Snapdragon 801 SoC costs, should be about $30

See more at iPhone Teardown Updated,  iPhone 5s Teardown, and some more about the processor iPhone A6 Teardown Update

Ron

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

$256, priciest Galaxy S to date

Research firm IHS got hold of Samsung’s new flagship smartphone and took it apart to the last bolt to figure out how much it actually costs to build. According to the teardown, the Galaxy S5 has a bill of material (BOM) of $256. 

Of course, this is not the full cost of the device, as it does not cover logistics, R&D, marketing and a range of other expenses that Samsung has to cover before the device makes it to retail.

Galaxy S5 BOM higher than usual

The $256 figure sounds a tad too high. Most flagship phones tend to have a BOM of about $200 or less. Most iPhones usually end up south of $200. For example, the iPhone 5S had a BOM of $191 when it launched last September, while the iPhone 5C had $173 worth of components inside its unapologetically plastic body. 

The Galaxy S5 retails for $699. Samsung does not have as much room to jack up margins as Apple does on the iPhone 5S, but it still has quite a bit more than many manufacturers. What’s more, Samsung’s BOM keeps going up. IHS found that the Galaxy S3 had a BOM of $205, while the S4 ended up at $233 (LTE version with Qualcomm 600 SoC). On top of that, a Galaxy S series phone costs upwards of $8 to assemble.

High-end smartphones are pricey, but at least it’s nice to see that Samsung’s consumers get a bit more value for money with each new generation.

Display remains the priciest component

Unsurprisingly Samsung’s 5-inch 1080p display is the most expensive component in the Galaxy S5. IHS puts its cost at $65. The cost of DRAM and NAND memory is around $33, but it’s unclear how much the Snapdragon 801 SoC costs. IHS puts the price of the Snapdragon 600 used in the S4 at $20, while the big Exynos 5 was estimated to cost $30. The Snapdragon 801 is probably closer to the Exynos in terms of overall cost.

“Inside we see mostly a lot of recycled components that we’ve seen before. There’s really nothing special inside where Samsung is pushing the envelope,” IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler toldRe/code. “There’s no breakthroughs, there’s nothing earth-shattering. It’s really just a continuation of what has come before.”

However, although there are no breakthroughs, the Galaxy S5 features a few new sensors, including a $4 fingerprint sensor and a biosensor from Maxium, with an estimated cost of $1.45. In addition to the new components which were not used in previous Galaxy S phones, the S5 also features a somewhat sturdier body, which also happens to be waterproof. This probably added a few more bucks to the BOM. 

Qualcomm's SoC Road Map for 2014, 2015

The table in the article below documents Qualcomm direction in response to Apple 64 bit processor (see in September 2013 iPhone 5s Teardown ).

"Today Qualcomm is rounding out its 64-bit family with the Snapdragon 808 and 810. Like the previous 64-bit announcements (Snapdragon 410, 610 and 615), the 808 and 810 leverage ARM's own CPU IP in lieu of a Qualcomm designed microarchitecture. We'll finally hear about Qualcomm's own custom 64-bit architecture later this year, but it's clear that all 64-bit Snapdragon SoCs shipping in 2014 (and early 2015) will use ARM CPU IP."

A key issue for Qualcomm is "Qualcomm's sharing the roadmap to its premium Snapdragon chipset lineup much earlier than it usually does; the 810 and 808 won't be available on devices until the first half of 2015. This is largely due to competitive pressure: MediaTek, Intel and NVIDIA are going big by pushing out chips with 64-bit support and, in some cases, eight cores. Given how fast the industry is iterating, it's not hard to see that Qualcomm -- which currently dominates much of the mobile chipset market -- doesn't want to lose momentum or popularity." Qualcomm's 2015 chips may make you regret getting a new phone this year

See more from September 2013 on iPhone 5s Teardown ,

and from July 2013 Smartphone: MediaTek Overtaking Qulacomm

While Qualcomm grew 31% last year, Media Tek already grew 36% semiconductor vendors ranking - Top Semiconductor Ranking for 2013

Ron

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

Qualcomm'sSnapdragon 808/810: 20nm High-End 64-bit SoCs with LTE Category 6/7 Support in2015

by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 7, 2014

Today Qualcomm is rounding out its 64-bit family with the Snapdragon 808 and 810. Like the previous 64-bit announcements (Snapdragon 410, 610 and 615), the 808 and 810 leverage ARM's own CPU IP in lieu of a Qualcomm designed microarchitecture. We'll finally hear about Qualcomm's own custom 64-bit architecture later this year, but it's clear that all 64-bit Snapdragon SoCs shipping in 2014 (and early 2015) will use ARM CPU IP.

While the 410, 610 and 615 all use ARM Cortex A53 cores (simply varying the number of cores and operating frequency), the 808 and 810 move to a big.LITTLE design with a combination of Cortex A53s and Cortex A57s. The latter is an evolution of the Cortex A15, offering anywhere from a 25 - 55% increase in IPC over the A15. The substantial increase in performance comes at around a 20% increase in power consumption at 28nm. Thankfully both the Snapdragon 808 and 810 will be built at 20nm, which should help offset some of the power increase.

Qualcomm's 64-bit Lineup
	Snapdragon 810	Snapdragon 808	Snapdragon 615	Snapdragon 610	Snapdragon 410
Internal Model Number	MSM8994	MSM8992	MSM8936	MSM8939	MSM8916
Manufacturing Process	20nm	20nm	28nm LP	28nm LP	28nm LP
CPU	4 x ARM Cortex A57 + 4 x ARM Cortex A53 (big.LITTLE)	2 x ARM Cortex A57 + 4 x ARM Cortex A53 (big.LITTLE)	8 x ARM Cortex A53	4 x ARM Cortex A53	4 x ARM Cortex A53
ISA	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A	32/64-bit ARMv8-A
GPU	Adreno 430	Adreno 418	Adreno 405	Adreno 405	Adreno 306
H.265 Decode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
H.265 Encode	Yes	No	No	No	No
Memory Interface	2 x 32-bit LPDDR4-1600	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-933	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-800	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-800	2 x 32-bit LPDDR2/3-533
Integrated Modem	9x35 core, LTE Category 6/7, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x35 core, LTE Category 6/7, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x25 core, LTE Category 4, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x25 core, LTE Category 4, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA	9x25 core, LTE Category 4, DC-HSPA+, DS-DA
Integrated WiFi	-	-	Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac 1-stream	Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac 1-stream	Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac 1-stream
eMMC Interface	5.0	5.0	4.5	4.5	4.5
Camera ISP	14-bit dual-ISP	12-bit dual-ISP	?	?	?
Shipping in Devices	1H 2015	1H 2015	Q4 2014	Q4 2014	Q3 2014

The Snapdragon 808 features four Cortex A53s and two Cortex A57s, while the 810 moves to four of each. In both cases all six/eight cores can be active at once (Global Task Scheduling). The designs are divided into two discrete CPU clusters (one for the A53s and one for the A57s). Within a cluster all of the cores have to operate at the same frequency (a change from previous Snapdragon designs), but each cluster can operate at a different frequency (which makes sense given the different frequency targets for these two core types). Qualcomm isn't talking about cache sizes at this point, but I'm guessing we won't see anything as cool/exotic as a large shared cache between the two clusters. Although these are vanilla ARM designs, Qualcomm will be using its own optimized cells and libraries, which may translate into better power/performance compared to a truly off-the-shelf design.

The CPU is only one piece of the puzzle as the rest of the parts of these SoCs get upgraded as well. The Snapdragon 808 will use an Adreno 418 GPU, while the 810 gets an Adreno 430. I have no idea what either of those actually means in terms of architecture unfortunately (Qualcomm remains the sole tier 1 SoC vendor to refuse to publicly disclose meaningful architectural details about its GPUs). In terms of graphics performance, the Adreno 418 is apparently 20% faster than the Adreno 330, and the Adreno 430 is 30% faster than the Adreno 420 (100% faster in GPGPU performance). Note that the Adreno 420 itself is something like 40% faster than Adreno 330, which would make Adreno 430 over 80% faster than the Adreno 330 we have in Snapdragon 800/801 today.

Also on the video side: both SoCs boast dedicated HEVC/H.265 decode hardware. Only the Snapdragon 810 has a hardware HEVC encoder however. The 810 can support up to two 4Kx2K displays (1 x 60Hz + 1 x 30Hz), while the 808 supports a maximum primary display resolution of 2560 x 1600.

The 808/810 also feature upgraded ISPs, although once again details are limited. The 810 gets an upgraded 14-bit dual-ISP design, while the 808 (and below?) still use a 12-bit ISP. Qualcomm claims up to 1.2GPixels/s of throughput, putting ISP clock at 600MHz and offering a 20% increase in ISP throughput compared to the Snapdragon 805.

The Snapdragon 808 features a 64-bit wide LPDDR3-933 interface (1866MHz data rate, 15GB/s memory bandwidth). The 810 on the other hand features a 64-bit wide LPDDR4-1600 interface (3200MHz data rate, 25.6GB/s memory bandwidth). The difference in memory interface prevents the 808 and 810 from being pin-compatible. Despite the similarities otherwise, the 808 and 810 are two distinct pieces of silicon - the 808 isn't a harvested 810.

Both SoCs have a MDM9x35 derived LTE Category 6/7 modem. The SoCs feature essentially the same modem core as a 9x35 discrete modem, but with one exception: Qualcomm enabled support for 3 carrier aggregation LTE (up from 2). The discrete 9x35 modem implementation can aggregate up to two 20MHz LTE carriers in order to reach Cat 6 LTE's 300Mbps peak download rate. The 808/810, on the other hand, can combine up to three 20MHz LTE carriers (although you'll likely see 3x CA used with narrower channels, e.g. 20MHz + 5MHz + 5MHz or 20MHz + 10MHz + 10MHz).

Enabling 3x LTE CA requires two RF transceiver front ends: Qualcomm's WTR3925 and WTR3905. The WTR3925 is a single chip, 2x CA RF transceiver and you need the WTR3905 to add support for combining another carrier. Category 7 LTE is also supported by the hardware (100Mbps uplink), however due to operator readiness Qualcomm will be promoting the design primarily as category 6.

There's no integrated WiFi in either SoC. Qualcomm expects anyone implementing one of these designs to want to opt for a 2-stream, discrete solution such as the QCA6174.

Qualcomm refers to both designs as "multi-billion transistor" chips. I really hope we'll get to the point of actual disclosure of things like die sizes and transistor counts sooner rather than later (the die shot above is inaccurate).

The Snapdragon 808 is going to arrive as a successor to the 800/801, while the 810 sits above it in the stack (with a cost structure similar to the 805). We'll see some "advanced packaging" used in these designs. Both will be available in a PoP configuration, supporting up to 4GB of RAM in a stack. Based on everything above, it's safe to say that these designs are going to be a substantial upgrade over what Qualcomm offers today.

Unlike the rest of the 64-bit Snapdragon family, the 808 and 810 likely won't show up in devices until the first half of 2015 (410 devices will arrive in Q3 2014, while 610/615 will hit in Q4). The 810 will come first (and show up roughly two quarters after the Snapdragon 805, which will show up two quarters after the recently released 801). The 808 will follow shortly thereafter. This likely means we won't see Qualcomm's own 64-bit CPU microarchitecture show up in products until the second half of next year.

With the Snapdragon 808 and 810, Qualcomm rounds out almost all of its 64-bit lineup. The sole exception is the 200 series, but my guess is the pressure to move to 64-bit isn't quite as high down there.

What's interesting to me is just how quickly Qualcomm has shifted from not having any 64-bit silicon on its roadmap to a nearly complete product stack. Qualcomm appeared to stumble a bit after Apple's unexpected 64-bit Cyclone announcement last fall. Leaked roadmaps pointed to a 32-bit only future in 2014 prior to the introduction of Apple's A7. By the end of 2013 however, Qualcomm had quickly added its first 64-bit ARMv8 based SoC to the roadmap (Snapdragon 410). Now here we are, just over six months since the release of iPhone 5s and Qualcomm's 64-bit product stack seems complete. It'll still be roughly a year before all of these products are shipping, but if this was indeed an unexpected detour I really think the big story is just how quickly Qualcomm can move.

I don't know of any other silicon player that can move and ship this quickly. Whatever efficiencies and discipline Qualcomm has internally, I feel like that's the bigger threat to competing SoC vendors, not the modem IP.

Qualcom, MediaTek Processor Chip Race

Apple 64 bit CPU used in its cell phones (see September 2013 iPhone 5s $199 Manufacturing Cost (BOM)) led Qualcomm to advance to 4 and 8 core Snapdragon processor with 64 bit support (see below).

Similarly, MediaTek, a chipset manufacturer based out of Taiwan, has been making some huge moves lately. Just over two months ago, it came out with the "world's first true octa-core" processor, which consisted of eight Cortex-A7 cores capable of operating simultaneously. Now that ARM has announced Cortex-A17 technology, (see second article below).

More about MediaTek see July 2013 Smartphone: MediaTek Overtaking Qulacomm

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

Qualcomm’s 4- and 8-core Snapdragon 610 and 615 trade CPU power for 64-bit

Cortex A53 won't stand up to Krait, but Qualcomm adds a capable GPU to the mix.

by Andrew Cunningham - Feb 23 2014, 11:00pm PST

The Snapdragon 610 will be equipped with four ARM Cortex A53 CPU cores running at an unspecified clock speed, rather than one of Qualcomm's custom ARM architectures. Snapdragon 615 takes a classic more-is-better approach, adding four more Cortex A53 CPU cores to the 610 for a total of eight. (Update:According to AnandTech, each group of four cores in the Snapdragon 615 will be optimized for a different performance level. One group will offer faster performance and one will offer lower power consumption, but both groups can theoretically be active at the same time.) For reference, the original Snapdragon 600 included four 32-bit Krait 300 CPU cores running at 1.7 or 1.9GHz, depending on the specific model.Qualcomm's first 64-bit chip wasn't a record-breaking high-end Snapdragon, but rather the modest, mid-range Snapdragon 410. Today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company announced its next two 64-bit mobile SoCs, the Snapdragon 610 and 615. Rather than introducing 64-bit at the top of its product lineup and letting it trickle down, Qualcomm seems to be taking the opposite approach.

The list of CPU architectures that ARM offers is getting difficult to keep track of, but here's what you need to know: Cortex A53 is a replacement of sorts for the Cortex A7. It's the first of two CPU designs from ARM that supports the new, more efficient ARMv8 instruction set and, by extension, the traditional benefits of a 64-bit architecture (not all ARMv8 chips are 64-bit, but everything we've seen so far has been). Cortex A7 and A53 are both small cores designed for low power rather than high performance, which means that Snapdragon 610 and 615 may actually be slower than last year's Snapdragon 600 for many tasks. For software that can use all of the CPU cores at once, it's possible that the eight-core 615 will be able to gain an edge, but the CPUs will likely be more remarkable for their ARMv8 support than their raw performance.

Luckily for Qualcomm, the chips' custom GPUs and LTE modems will be more compelling for partners and consumers (and will differentiate the 610 and 615 from theSnapdragon 410, which also uses four Cortex A53 CPU cores). The Adreno 405 GPU is a relative of the Adreno 420 in the upcoming Snapdragon 805, and while it will probably be a little slower, it still supports OpenGL ES 3.0 (also included in Adreno 300 GPUs), DirectX 11.2 (good for Windows phones), H.265 video decoding, and displays up to 2560×1600 in resolution.

On the wireless side, the 610 and 615 support LTE speeds of up to 150Mbps and are compatible with Qualcomm's "RF360 Front End Solution," which allows phone manufacturers to support multiple worldwide LTE bands with a single phone rather than having to customize multiple configurations for different markets. Bluetooth 4.1 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi are also included.

Qualcomm says that the 410, 610, and 615 will all be supported by the same software and will be pin-compatible, meaning that any phone designed for one of these three chips can be upgraded or downgraded at will. This should be handy for OEMs looking to spruce up an older handset, or phone-makers who want to experiment a bit to find the best balance between performance, power consumption, and cost.

Both the Snapdragon 610 and 615 are scheduled to begin sampling in the third quarter of 2014 and will appear in shipping phones and tablets in the fourth quarter; the Snapdragon 410 and 805 are scheduled to be released in a similar timeframe. Those of you waiting for a true high-end 64-bit part from Qualcomm will have to keep waiting. The new-ish Snapdragon 801 and the Snapdragon 805 will be the company's flagship SoCs through the end of 2014, but by the end of the year we'd expect to hear something about some kind of 64-bit Snapdragon 810-series part based on either the high-performance Cortex A57 architecture or a new version of Qualcomm's custom Krait architecture.

MediaTek's new octa-core processor to compete with Qualcomm 

over the premium LTE smartphone market

BY BRAD MOLEN  @PHONEWISDOM  FEBRUARY 11TH, 2014 AT 1:01AM ET
 41

MediaTek, a chipset manufacturer based out of Taiwan, has been making some huge moves lately. Just over two months ago, it came out with the "world's first true octa-core" processor, which consisted of eight Cortex-A7 cores capable of operating simultaneously. Now that ARM has announced Cortex-A17 technology, however, MediaTek is ready to start sampling a new octa-core chip that consists of four 2.2-2.5GHz A17 cores and four 1.7GHz A7s, and comes with a Rogue PowerVR Series6 GPU to take care of any graphical needs you might have.

As an aside, the A17 cores come with a 60 percent improvement in performance over the current-gen A9s, and are primarily designed to make midrange smartphones and tablets even faster. That said, MediaTek tells us that its new chips, known as the MT6595, are actually meant to be featured in premium devices and will square off directly against Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and 805. And it's certainly got a few noteworthy features: first, the chip will use ARM's big.LITTLE architecture and Heterogeneous Multi-Processing, which means you can use all eight cores for the most intense tasks, or you can use just one or two at a time for incredibly basic activities. The company claims that this chip will be faster and more power efficient than the octa-core Exynos options, which feature four A15 cores and four A7s at lower frequencies.

Additionally, the MT6595 claims to be the first octa-core LTE system-on-chip with an H.265 Ultra HD Codec built-in to the platform, which offers 4K2K video recording and playback capabilities. In much the same way that most manufacturers don't enable all of a chip's features, however, it'll be up to each individual company to add it in. The chips will begin sampling to phone makers and carriers in the first half of this year, and it's expected to arrive in products during the second half. And while it should find its way into smartphones and tablets around the world, MediaTek wants the MT6595 to enjoy a huge presence in the US.