Newest Samsung smartphone has highest Galaxy Series bill of
materials to date
The recently released Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the most
expensive Galaxy S line smartphone yet built, but has a lower
retail price than a comparable iPhone 6 Plus, according to a
preliminary estimate by IHS (NYSE: IHS) and its Technology Mobile
Handsets Intelligence Service.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (Photo: Business
Wire)
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone with 64GB of NAND memory
carries a bill of materials (BOM) of $284.85 with the cost rising
to $290.45 when the $5.60 manufacturing cost is added, according to
results from the IHS teardown of a phone purchased from Verizon.
The retail price at Verizon for the Galaxy S6 Edge is $799.99.
A comparable Apple iPhone 6 Plus 64GB has a BOM of $236.04,
which rises to $240.05 after the $4.01 manufacturing cost is added,
and a retail price from the Apple online store of $849.00, $50
higher than the S6 Edge.
“Overall, this is the priciest Samsung Galaxy S series bill of
materials to date. In fact, Samsung seems to have consistently
packed more features and cost into their flagship Galaxy S line of
phones over the last three generations of product, now producing a
BOM cost that is notably higher than comparable iPhones,” said
Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of research and analysis for
IHS.
Preliminary Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
Teardown CostAnalysis vs. iPhone 6 Plus 64GB
iPhone 6 Plus Galaxy
S6 Edge 64GB 64GB Direct Materials Costs $236.04 $284.85
Conversion Costs $4.01 $5.60 Total Costs $240.05 $290.45
Retail $849.99 $799.99
Source: IHS Technology iPhone 6 Plus analysis December 2014. S6
analysis April 2015.
Cost/Pricing Approach Similar to Apple
The Edge model retails for $100 more than the regular version of
the S6. Additionally, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge both are priced
$100 more at retail for each increment of memory from 32GB to 64GB
and from 64GB to 128GB. “It only costs Samsung around $13 for 32GB
in memory and less than $26 for an additional 64GB in memory,”
Rassweiler said. “So Samsung generates an additional $87 or so in
profit on the 64GB model when compared to the 32GB model. Apple has
also been structuring their iPhone offering like this for years. It
boosts margins.”
SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 EDGE SM-G925V Top
Cost Drivers
Itemized Components MfgName
Description Total Cost
Display SAMSUNG
Display / Touchscreen Module, 5.1"Quad HD
Super AMOLED,2560x1440 Pixels, 577PPI, Dual Edge
$85.00
IC Content Apps Processor SAMSUNG Apps
Processor - Octa-Core, 64-Bit, 14nm, PoP $29.50
Baseband IC
QUALCOMM Baseband Processor - Multi-Mode, 28nm, PoP $15.00
Memory NAND (eMMC, MLC, …) SAMSUNG Flash - UFS NAND, 64GB,
PoP $25.00 DRAM SAMSUNG SDRAM - LPDDR4, 3GB, PoP $27.50
Power Management Ics $5.40
RF / PA Section
$12.50
User Interface Ics $9.95
Sensors $4.80
Modules Primary Camera Module Rear Camera Module - 16MP, BSI
CMOS, OIS $18.50 Secondary Camera Module Front Camera Module - 5MP,
BSI CMOS $3.00 BT / WLAN Module(s) MURATA BT / WLAN Module $4.00
Battery Pack(s) ITM Li-Polymer, 3.85V, 2600mAh, 10.01Wh $3.50
Other Noteworthy Items Box Contents $6.20 Enclosure
elements
Die-Cast Aluminum Center Piece
&Machined Aluminum Bottom Piece
$12.00
Other Mechanical / Electro-Mechanicals
$23.00
Source: IHS Technology April 2015
Pricey Display
Samsung has been using the Galaxy line to showcase its Super
AMOLED technology in previous Galaxy S series generations, and the
Galaxy S6 and S6 EDGE are no exceptions to this rule. The displays
on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge offer higher resolution (2560x1440
pixels, known as Quad HD) than the iPhone 6 Plus which features
1920x1080 (1080p) resolution. The IHS teardown also showed that the
unique Edge curved display screen costs $85, about $24 more than
the display for the regular version of the S6. Furthermore, when
compared with the iPhone 6 Plus, the display on the Galaxy S6 Edge
is more than double the cost of the TFT/IPS display and touchscreen
on the iPhone 6 Plus, which IHS estimated at $41 in November
2014.
Predominantly Samsung Silicon
The S6 Edge features predominantly Samsung silicon, but there
are several variations of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge that also
feature Samsung modem chips rather than those from Qualcomm found
in the Verizon sample torn down by IHS. “There are other versions
of the S6 sold by different carriers in different markets that do
not use the Qualcomm chip set. We have procured another model so we
can compare the models and look at the cost differences,”
Rassweiler said.
The apps processor in the Edge torn down by IHS is a Samsung
Octa-Core, 64-Bit, built in 14nm, and is one of the first (but not
only) 14nm processors the IHS team has seen, with a cost of $29.50.
The baseband integrated circuit (IC) is a Qualcomm MDM9653M
multi-mode baseband processor, which has an estimated cost of
$15.
The NAND memory is a Samsung (KLUCG8G1BD), 64GB UFS NAND, PoP,
and the DRAM is a Samsung (K3RG3G30MM-DGCH), 3GB LPDDR4, PoP.
“Package on Package” Reduces Size
“This is the first time we have seen NAND Flash memory in
package-on-package (PoP) format. In this case the flash memory is
mounted directly on top of the Qualcomm MDM9653M processor. That’s
usually something we have only seen when DRAM memory is placed on
top of the applications processor,” Rassweiler said. “‘PoP
packaging is used to reduce the overall footprint, and in this case
is being used in more than one place in the design.
“It also is our first sighting in all teardowns of mobile (low
power) DDR4 DRAM,” he added. “The iPhone 6 employs 1GB of Mobile
DDR3 by comparison while 3GB of DDR3 DRAM has been a predominant
configuration in several flagship Android phones in the last
year.”
Regarding the RF/PA components in the Edge, Rassweiler said that
both Apple and Samsung have focused much attention to integrating
various radio frequency modules. “This integration is being done to
help reduce the number of different SKUs needed to support multiple
wireless operators worldwide,” Rassweiler said. “The approach to
support multiple wireless operators with, ideally, a single model
has been a big part of the LTE design efforts by both Apple and
Samsung.”
For more information about the IHS teardown of the Galaxy S6
Edge smartphone, visit
https://technology.ihs.com/ResearchAreas/450461/teardowns.
About IHS
(www.ihs.com)
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of insight, analytics and
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the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood,
Colorado, USA, IHS is committed to sustainable, profitable growth
and employs about 8,800 people in 32 countries around the
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