One-third of mobile phones to use accelerometers by 2010

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Owing to the essential role they play in the user interfaces of hot smart phones like Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Palm Inc.’s Pre, accelerometers are expected to appear in one-third of mobile phones shipped next year, according to iSuppli Corp.

“By next year, one out of three mobile phones shipped worldwide will include an accelerometer, up from one out of five in 2009, and one out of 11 in 2008,” observed Jérémie Bouchaud, director and principal analyst, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) for iSuppli.

“While few consumers know what accelerometers are, they do know that when they turn their iPhones to the side, their screens automatically adjust from portrait to landscape view, or that when they shake their handsets they can roll a pair of virtual dice in a game of chance.

With their capability to detect and measure motion, accelerometers are the critical enablers of these features, which are an essential element of what makes these smart phones so popular. These capabilities now are spreading beyond smart phones to other types of handsets.”

Fig. 1 presents iSuppli’s forecast of global accelerometer penetration in all types of mobile phones.

iSuppli Fig. 1: Global Penetration of Accelerometers in All Types of Mobile Phones (Percentage of Total Mobile Phone Shipments)Source: iSuppli, July 2009

Beyond game play and screen orientation, the most popular uses for 3-axis MEMS accelerometer motion sensors in phones include power management and shake modes for control of tracks in music phones, context awareness and pedometers.

iSuppli’s teardown analysis of the iPhone 3G S revealed the use of a 3-axis MEMS accelerometer from STMicroelectronics. Beyond the features mentioned above, the STMicroelectronics part works with the new iPhone’s digital compass to orient maps to whatever direction a user is facing.

In the teardown of the Palm Pre, iSuppli identified a Kionix Inc. MEMS accelerometer and inclinometer.

Looking specifically at the top mobile-phone OEMs, 38 percent of new Nokia handsets platforms have integrated motion-sensing accelerometers since January. Sony Ericsson had the highest penetration of accelerometers, with 18 out of 19 new phones models introduced this year. Samsung and LG also are offering new phones with 3-axis accelerometers.

iSuppli annually tracks the features of more than 1,000 mobile phones from 32 manufacturers—accounting for 99 percent of total cell phone shipments. Since January 1, of the several hundred phones already introduced, 18.3 percent of the models integrated an accelerometer. iSuppli expects the penetration of accelerometers in new models to rise in the second half of 2009.

Partly because of the rapid rise in accelerometer adoption, as well as the use of other MEMS, the market for microelectromechanical sensors for mobile phones is expected to more than triple from 2008 to 2013. Global revenue from sales of MEMS for mobile phones will rise to $1.6 billion in 2013, up from $460.9 million in 2008.

Beyond accelerometers, other MEMS devices already used in mobile phones include microphones, BAW duplexers and filters, MEMS autofocus actuators, pressure sensors and even MEMS pico-projectors. MEMS gyroscopes will join the fray in early 2010.

Fig. 2 attached presents iSuppli’s forecast of global MEMS revenue derived from mobile handsets.

iSuppli Fig. 2: Worldwide Forecast of Sales of MEMS for Use in Mobile Phones (Revenue in Millions of US Dollars)Source: iSuppli, July 2009

iPhone 3G S BOM and manufacturing cost $178.96

EL SEGUNDO, USA: With the new iPhone 3G S’s Bill of Materials (BOM) and feature set nearly the same as the previous model in the iPhone line, you might think the product’s component selection would be virtually unchanged. However, a dissection conducted by iSuppli Corp.’s Teardown Analysis Service reveals some interesting changes in the parts and suppliers.

“The entry-level, 16Gbyte version of Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 3G S carries a BOM cost of $172.46 and a manufacturing expense of $6.50, for a total of $178.96,” said Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst, teardown services, for iSuppli.

“This is slightly higher than iSuppli’s estimate of $174.33 for the original low-end 8Gbyte iPhone 3G based on pricing in July 2008. Although the retail price of the 16Gbyte iPhone 3G S is $199, the same as for the 8Gbyte version of the original iPhone 3G, the actual price of the phone paid by the service provider is considerably higher, reflecting the common wireless industry practice of subsidizing the upfront cost of a mobile phone and then making a profit on subscriptions.”

The table presents a summary of the major component cost drivers in the iPhone 3G S.Source: iSuppli, June 2009

The table and cost data presented in this article consist only of the iPhone 3G S’s BOM. The total does not include other costs, including software development, shipping and distribution, packaging, royalty fees and miscellaneous accessories included with each phone.Source: iSuppli, June 2009

This year’s model
Beyond faster performance, the iPhone 3G S differentiates itself from the original 3G with the addition of video capture, an autofocus 3-Megapixel camera—compared to 2 Megapixels before—and a built-in digital compass. Besides these extras, the 3G S hardware feature set is not much different from that of the 3G.

“From a component and design perspective, there’s also a great deal of similarity between the 3G and the 3G S. By leveraging this commonality to optimize materials costs, and taking advantage of price erosion in the electronic component marketplace, Apple can provide a higher-performing product with more memory and features at only a slightly higher materials and manufacturing cost,” Rassweiler said. “Nonetheless, there are a few key differences in component selection compared to the iPhone 3G introduced a year ago.”

Broadcom and Dialog dial in to iPhone
One of the more noteworthy changes in hardware is the use of a Broadcom Corp. single-chip Bluetooth/FM/WLAN device, costing $5.95. This represents the ongoing industry trend of moving to higher levels of integration, by putting all of these functions into one chip.

Previously, to implement these functions, the 3G employed two devices: a Marvell Technology Group Ltd. WLAN chip and a Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) Bluetooth Integrated Circuit (IC).

Making its debut in the iPhone line is Dialog Semiconductor with its power management IC serving the 3G S’s applications processor. At an estimated cost of $1.30, the Dialog chip replaces a corresponding NXP Semiconductors device in the 3G.

STMicroelectronics and AKM find way into 3G S
To implement the digital compass feature, the iPhone 3G S adds AKM Semiconductor Inc.’s electronic compass and STMicroelectronics’ accelerometer, both of which are 3-axis devices.

The STMicroelectronics part allows the 3G S to determine device orientation or inclination, while the AKM sensor detects device movement relative to magnetic north, supporting the 3G S’s capability to reorient a map displayed on the screen to correspond with the direction the user is facing.

Infineon and TriQuint hold down the fort
Prior the 3G S introduction, speculation was rife that Qualcomm Inc. might displace Infineon Technologies AG as the supplier of the phone’s critical baseband chip. However, Infineon has held onto this critical spot with its PMB8878 baseband chip, which accounts for $13 of the 3G S component costs.

Similarly, TriQuint has kept its slot as the 3G power amplifier module supplier, supporting the tri-band HSPA functionality of the phone.

Major cost drivers
Toshiba Corp. scored the biggest single design win in the 3G S, with its 16Gbyte Multilevel-Cell (MLC) NAND flash costing $24. With the price of NAND flash having risen in recent months due to supply constraints, this represents a lucrative design win for Toshiba.

However, while Toshiba was the supplier of the NAND in the specific 3G S torn down by iSuppli, the part is available from other sources that Apple is likely to use, most notably Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Samsung also maintained its position as iPhone’s applications processor supplier. Priced at $14.46, the applications processor is the fourth most costly component in the iPhone 3G S after the NAND flash, the display module and the touch-screen assembly.

The applications processor plays a key role in the 3G S’s faster performance. In the 3G, the processor used an ARM RISC microprocessor with 400MHz clock speed; the 3G S employs a 600MHz version.

iPhone 3G S launch will help stabilize NAND Flash price in slow season

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: NAND Flash contract price showed up and down in 1HJune, while the contract price for mainstream high-density MLC chips slightly declined 1 percent to 6 percent due to the slow season and quarter-end effects, says DRAMeXchange.

Source: DRAMeXchange

The period of May-July is traditionally regarded as the slow reason for NAND Flash related products such as memory card and UFD. Therefore, the market demand is comparably weak. Given the over one month inventory level along with the quarter-end effects, memory card makers show less incentive in NAND Flash re-stocking.

On the other hand, NAND Flash suppliers offered price discount to customers during Computex Taipei Show in early June. It’ll help downstream clients to engage in sales promotion in slow season. Therefore, it resulted in the slightly price decline trend in mainstream MLC contract price.

Source: DRAMeXchange

DRAMeXchange states that currently NAND Flash suppliers still will try to stabilize price during NAND Flash slow season in order to improve their profitability. However, price is expected to be influenced by the quarter-end effect and weaker demand in slow season.

Apple officially introduced new iPhone 3GS on June 8 and new iPhone will hit the American market on June 19 and gradually deliver to other countries in the near future. The pricing for 16GB model is US$199, US$299 for 32GB model and US$99 for 8GB iPhone 3G.

The launch effect is expected to have positive impact on NAND Flash market despite of about 5 percent consumption of total NAND Flash demand in 2H09. Given these positive and negative factors to NAND Flash market, NAND Flash contract price is likely to slightly soften or stay stable in the short term.

The contract price is expected to stabilize and gradually rise when the re-stock demand can gradually recover in the traditional hot season.