Reviewers liked the speed and power of the Motorola Xoom tablet but thought it was a bit pricey. IHS iSuppli's teardown of the Motorola Xoom sheds some light on the pricing because it costs more to make than the iPad. Components making the Motorola Xoom more expensive include the dual-core processor, which costs almost double what the iPad processor costs, and two cameras. IHS iSuppli shows in their comparison the prices of components of the Motorola Xoom vs the iPad.
Previously, IHS iSuppli explained why the Motorola Xoom has to be returned for a 4G LTE update. It doesn't have all the needed 4G LTE components yet.
According to IHS iSuppli, the Motorola Xoom carries a bill of material (BOM) of $359.92 based on current pricing, as compared to approximately $320 for a 3G iPad with 32GB of NAND flash memory, based on pricing from April 2010.
The Xoom resembles the mid-range iPad with its capacitive
touchscreen, 10.1-inch display, high-capacity battery and 32GB memory
density. However, the Xoom zooms ahead of the original iPad with
features like its fast dual-core apps processor and the addition of
both front- and rear-facing cameras.
"The Xoom earns its status as a true iPad competitor by
virtue of the fact that it equals many of the iPad's best features--while
also making up for some the iPad's shortcomings, such as the lack of a
camera--at least until Apple begins shipping its second-generation
product line," analyst Wayne Lam commented
Just as in the iPad, the display and touchscreen assembly represents the most expensive subsystem within the Xoom. The Xoom's display and touchscreen section costs $140, or 38.9 percent of the total BOM cost. In comparison, the iPad's 9.7-inch display/touchscreen assembly carries a cost of $125, based on pricing from our analysis last year.
The Xoom's thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) supports 262,000 colors and has a denser pixel format than the iPad at 1,280 by 800.
The iPad's TFT-advanced fringe field switching (AFFS) display also has 262K colors and a resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels. However, the iPad display employs in-plane switching (IPS) technology, which allows for a wider viewing angle and better picture quality in terms of color presentation than a conventional LCD.
The Xoom touchscreen module features the Atmel mXT1386 touchscreen controller, a new 32-bit device capable of registering up to 16 discrete touch points. The Atmel controller is implemented in a four-discrete-chip solution. This multi-chip solution for touchscreen controls represents an arguably more expensive design than the custom Texas Instruments Inc./Broadcom Corp. touchscreen solution employed in the original iPad.
Memory matchup: Mirroring the iPad 3G in terms of cost, the memory is the next most expensive subsystem of the Xoom. The grand total cost for the Motorola Xoom's memory components is $80.40, or 22.3 percent of the total BOM. This compares to $67.80 for the equivalent 32GB model of the iPad. The additional cost of the Xoom's memory is accounted for by the two Elpida mobile double data rate (DDR) 2 synchronous dynamic random access memories (DRAM). These 4-gigabit-density parts support the Xoom's high-speed, dual-core microprocessor, giving the tablet a total of 1GB of SDRAM to run Android 3.0's more advanced features, such as the multitasking of applications.
The memory subsystem also includes the 32GB NAND flash from Toshiba Corp., which accounts for the bulk of the cost of this section.
One of the most dramatic cost differentials between the Xoom and iPad is in the apps processor. The Xoom's processor and associated components costs an estimated $20.78, or 5.8 percent of the BOM. This is almost twice the cost of the iPad 3G's A4 processor at slightly less than $11.
The Xoom employs a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 apps processor, compared to the single-core A4. This more advanced part boosts both the performance--and the cost--for the XOOM.
Camera costs:
The Xoom 's two cameras also represent a major cost disparity between the Xoom and iPad. The 5-megapixel camera on the back and the 2-megapixel device on the front carry a collective cost of $14, or 3.9 percent of the BOM. In contrast, the original iPad 3G has no cameras.
Cost countdown:
Other subsystem cost comparisons between the Xoom and iPad 3G include:
- The baseband/radio frequency/power amplifier section, which includes the Qualcomm MDM6600, at $14.65 in the Xoom and $19.35 in the iPad.
- The power management section, at $11.26 in the Xoom, and $10.57 in the iPad.
- The user interface functions, at $9.12 in the Xoom, and $14.39 in the iPad.
For more information on IHS iSuppli's Motorola Xoom teardown, please visit: An Early Look Inside Motorola's First Google Android v3.0 Tablet.
Read more Motorola Xoom stories.