The new Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry Bold 9000 smartphone represents RIM's first attempt to address consumers directly with a device that is as attractive to average consumers as to its core audience of corporate users. An iSuppli teardown analysis of the Bold shows that RIM has succeeded in offering a product with a full set of features that bridge the gap between consumer and corporate needs, while keeping costs low enough to command an apparently healthy margin.
Interface is everything
One of the most obvious distinctions between the Bold and previous members of the BlackBerry line is the display, a bright 2.65-inch diagonal TFT-LCD that offers 65,000 colors and a resolution of 320 by 480 pixels.
"Although the Bold's display is smaller than the iPhone's display and lacks the iPhone's compelling touch-screen technology, the displays on the Bold and iPhone have the same resolution, giving the Bold a superior apparent resolution," said Francis Sideco, senior analyst, wireless communications, for iSuppli. "The use of a keyboard/trackball interface rather than a touch screen may represent a nod by RIM to its installed base of corporate users, who are familiar with the BlackBerry interface. Even during the BlackBerry line's transition to a more consumer-centric feature set, RIM kept the interface familiar enough that its dedicated base of users won't be shocked by the change."
A Bold BOM
iSuppli's teardown analysis of the Bold reveals a direct Bill of Materials (BOM) cost of US$158.16 and a manufacturing cost of US$11.25 for a total of US$169.41. Because the Bold is sold at a major discount compared to its actual market value, it's difficult to determine how much of a margin there is between the BOM and manufacturing costs and the sales price. However, with a contract, Canadian operator Rogers Communications of Canada offers the Blackberry Bold at a price of 399 Canadian dollars, or about US$337 based on exchange rates at the time this was written. This indicates that RIM is garnering a healthy margin on the Bold.
Consumer crossover
At the US$169.41 BOM and manufacturing cost, the Bold manages to pack in a lot of functionality that makes it appealing to both consumer and corporate users.
"The Bold was definitely designed with both the enterprise and consumer markets in mind," Sideco said. "It retains the traditional business-oriented features, like support for global wireless standards and bands, and enterprise security measures. However, it also adds features oriented toward consumers, including a 2-megapixel camera, Global Positioning System (GPS), stereo headset capability for listening to music and support for a full suite of audio and video formats. The Bold also integrates a large quantity of onboard memory, allowing it to conduct more graphically oriented tasks."
The Bold is also RIM's first BlackBerry to include support for the 3G/High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) air interface standard and the first to include a full QWERTY keyboard. The product also stands apart from its BlackBerry predecessors with its use of the high-quality TFT-LCD display.
Along with the faster network connection, the Bold's performance is boosted by sheer processing power via the addition of an updated 624MHz Marvell-based processor and an improved Blackberry Operating System (OS) 4.6 platform.
"The Bold is not only the fullest-featured BlackBerry to date, it's also the most refined," said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services manager and principal analyst for iSuppli. "The display, the high-speed data connection, the digital camera and the inclusion of a large quantity of onboard memory make the Bold as media savvy as any smart phone on the market today."
Design winners
Marvell was a big winner in the Bold, with its 88CP930M-BGR1 communications processor accounting for the largest portion of cost of any semiconductor in the product. At an estimated cost of US$34.34, the Marvell processor represents 21.8% of the Bold's total BOM cost. This device uses a highly integrated design, combining almost all communications processing functions on a single chip, including applications processing, digital baseband and analog baseband.
Other major design winners include Samsung Electronics, with its LMS265DC01 2.65-inch diagonal display module at a cost of US$16, and its KMYFE0B0CA-D300 Multichip Module (MCP), which includes 8Gbs of MoviNAND flash memory, 1Gbit of OneNAND memory and 1Gbit of mobile Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM.
Texas Instruments has a US$4.84 WLAN chip and a US$2.88 TPS65850 power-management Integrated Circuit (IC) with integrated battery charger in the device, while SanDisk has a US$3 1GB MicroSD card.
Major cost drivers in the BlackBerry Bold (US$)
Component description
Manufacturer
Component Cost
(US$)
Communication processor - PXA9xx, integrated baseband, 624MHz
Marvell Technology
$34.34
Display module value line item - 2.65-inch diagonal, 65K color TFT, 320 x 480 pixels
Samsung
$16.00
MCP - 8Gb MLC MoviNAND, 1Gb OneNAND, 1Gb mobile DDR
Samsung Semiconductor
$10.45
Camera module value line Item - 2.0MP, CMOS, 1/4" format, fixed lens
$9.90
Battery - Lithium polymer, 3.7V, 1550mAh
$5.95
GPS - Single chip, A-GPS, SiRFstarIII, ARM7 core, 4Mbit on-chip ROM, internal flash, 90nm
SiRF
$4.92
WLAN - 802.11a/b/g, Single-chip, integrated baseband & RF, 90nm
Texas Instruments
$4.84
10-Layer - FR4/RCF HDI, 2+6+2
AT&S
$4.33
MicroSD card - 1GB
SanDisk
$3.00
Power Management IC - w/ integrated battery charger
Texas Instruments
$2.88
Carrying case - stitched leather, stamped w/ reinforcements and magnetic insert
$2.80
USB charger - 5V, 0.5A, w/ 4 interchangeable international plug blades & box
$2.50
Enclosure, main, top cover - injection molded Lexan EXL1414 polycarbonate, silkscreened, painted
$1.98
Keypad assembly
$1.88
BlueCore4ROM - Single-chip Bluetooth solution, V2.0+EDR
CSR
$1.85
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Total major cost drivers
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$107.62
Other costs
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$50.54
Manufacturing costs
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$11.25
Grand total
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$169.41
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