The BlackBerry Storm 9530 from Research in Motion (RIM) carries a combined materials and manufacturing cost of US$202.89, according to a teardown conducted by iSuppli. This cost includes all parts and manufacturing costs for the Storm but excludes other expenses, including Intellectual Property (IP), royalties and licensing fees, software, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs.
In the US, Verizon is selling the Storm for US$249.99 with a US$50 rebate, bringing the balance to US$199.99 – the same selling price point as iPhone. However, carriers like Verizon and AT&T sell their mobile phones at subsidized pricing, so the actual price and materials/manufacturing margin for the product is difficult to determine.
Storm vs. iPhone
The Storm matches up with the iPhone 3G very well in terms of attributes and functionality. Both phones combine wireless voice communications with a range of other convergence features, including Internet access, email, built-in GPS, messaging and an integrated camera.
The Storm features a color 3.25-inch TFT-LCD display, with 65,000 colors and a 480 by 360 pixel resolution. However, the inclusion of the touchscreen is what really puts the Storm into the same class as the iPhone 3G, according to iSuppli.
"The touchscreen and the resulting user interface represent the focal point of the Storm's design from the user's point of view, as it is with the iPhone," said Andrew Rassweiler, principal analyst, teardown services manager, for iSuppli. "However, RIM has added a special differentiating feature from the iPhone: the 'clickable' screen. The one thing that existing touchscreens lack is the feedback mechanism users get from a conventional keyboard that clicks when a key is depressed, letting you know quickly that your choice has been registered. Clearly, RIM felt this was lacking and added an actual physical button that allows users to feel and hear a click when they make a selection on the display."
"While the Storm is very competitive with the iPhone in terms of features and hardware, it does not have iPhone's multi-touch technology," said Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications, for iSuppli. "The Storm uses a simple physical button under the primary touch screen to provide haptic feedback. This allows one physical key press at a time, meaning there is no double-tapping capability with the Storm."
On the other hand, the Storm is capable of roaming with more operators globally than the iPhone due to its support for the EVDO air standard, along with CDMA 2000, GSM, WCDMA and HSDPA. This allows Verizon's Storm users to roam around the world without having to rent a separate device, depending on operator restrictions.
The Storm, when compared with the Apple iPhone 3G, is marginally more expensive and complex in terms of sheer component count.
In July 2008, iSuppli issued a preliminary estimate of US$174.33 for initial production costs for the 8GB iPhone 3G, US$28.56 less than the Storm. The Storm's total component count is 1,177, of which 151 are mechanical in nature. The iPhone 3G includes 1,116 components.
"The higher cost and component cost of the Storm are to be expected, given its support for both 3GPP – and 3GPP2 – based technologies," Rassweiler said.
BOMs away
The US$202.89 BOM/manufacturing cost of the Blackberry Storm 9530 consists of US$186 for components and other materials, and US$16.07 for manufacturing. This total is about $27 more expensive than the Bold, another smartphone model from RIM, based on pricing from October 2008, according to iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service. The cost differential is mainly accounted for by the touchscreen and its supporting electronics, according to Francis Sideco, senior analyst, wireless communications, for iSuppli.
Qualcomm scores design win
The use of the Qualcomm MSM7600 baseband processor represents the first time iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service has detected a part from this manufacturer in a RIM product. Previous teardowns noted that RIM employed Marvell chips for this function. For example, the Bold used Marvell Technology Group's PXA9xx Integrated Baseband processor. The Qualcomm part not only provides support for the EVDO air standard, making it a more of a worldwide phone, but it also eliminates the need for multiple basebands and radio frequency chains, saving some cost.
At an estimated price of US$34.82, the MSM7600 accounts for 17.2% of the Storm's total component cost. Qualcomm also provided two RF transceivers and a power management IC for the Storm, giving the company a 21.1% share of the total component costs for the product.
Other component supplier winners in the Storm include: Synaptics, which contributed a US$15.50 capacitive touchscreen overlay; SanDisk, which provided an 8GB MicroSD memory card priced at US$11.50; Samsung Electronics, which supplied a US$7.50 multi-chip package (MCP) containing 8Gb of Multi-Level Cell (MLC) memory, according to iSuppli.
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