iPad represents 'radical design departure' says iSuppli
1 min read
Apple's iPad represents a radical departure in electronic design compared to conventional products, according to a teardown by iSuppli. The company's analysis shows that more than 40% of the Bill of Materials is accounted for by display, touchscreen and other interface components.
Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst and teardown services manager for iSuppli, claimed the iPad's design represents a new approach in terms of electronics cost structure and electronic content. "Conventional notebook pcs are 'motherboard centric'," he contended, "with all the other functions in the system – such as the display, the keyboard and audio – peripheral to the central microprocessor and the main pcb. With the iPad, this is reversed; everything is HMI centric, with the pcb and ics there to facilitate the display of content as well as user inputs."
Interface related components are believed to cost $109.50, or 43.7% of the BoM for the 16Gbyte, non 3G version of the iPad. Based on the teardown of that device, iSuppli estimates the BoM to be $250.60. When manufacturing expenses are added, the cost rises to $259.60.
The most expensive component in the iPad, at $65, is the 9.7in 256k colour tft, with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. The display in the iPad torn down by iSuppli was supplied by LG Display, but iSuppli believes Apple has qualified two other suppliers.
The device's microprocessor combines an A4 processor core and graphics processing unit designed by PA Semi; acquired by Apple in 2008. Broadcom supplies the wlan, Bluetooth and fm module, while Dialog Semiconductor supplies a power management chip.
