Lenovo S10-3t Netbook Tablet Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Lenovo S10-3t is a netbook tablet design based on and an Intel N450 CPU / NM10 chipset commonly referred to as the "Pineview" platform. The 10.1 inch display on the Lenovo swivels and features a multitouch screen overlay. The Lenovo S10 comes with 1GB of DDR2 memory, 250GB hard disk drive WLAN half miniPCIe card, integrated VGA resolution webcam and an 8-cell battery.

Target Market

Netbook / Tablet based Mobile Computing

Released

Per our understanding, first release in August of 2008.

Pricing and Availability

Pricing - Retail price for the S10-3t is approximately $550

Availability - assumed global

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 1M units.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

Cost Notes

Main Cost Drivers (Representing ~80% of total materials cost)

$39 - Seagate - ST9250315AS - Hard Drive - 250GB, 2.5" SATA 3Gb/s, 5400 rpm, 8MB Buffer

$37.50 - L09S8L09 -

$31.23 - Intel - AU80610004653AA - CPU - Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB, 45nm Process

$31 - AU Optronics - B101AW02 - Display Module Value Line Item - 10.1" TFT LCD, TN Mode, 1024 x 600 Pixels, 0.218mm x 0.209mm Pixel Size, 262K Colors, 400:1 Contrast Ratio, 200cd/m^2 Brightness, 16ms Response Time, Active Area: 222.7mm x 125.3mm, LED Backlight

$19.80 - Ramaxel - RMN1150HC48D7F-667-LF - SO-DIMM DDR2-667 - 1GB, 64Mx8, 1.8V

$16.50 - Touchscreen - Projective Capacitive, 10.1" Diagonal, ITO Plastic

$8.78 - Intel - CG82NM10SLGXX - Platform Controller Hub - Intel NM10 Chipset, 130nm

$5.11 - Delta Electronics - ADP-30SH - AC Adapter - 20V, 1.5A, 30W, w/ 6ft Cord & Velcro Strap

$4.80 - Broadcom - BCM94313HMG2L - WLAN Half Mini PCIe Module Value Line Item - IEEE802.11b/g/n, Contains BCM4313 Single-Chip Solution

$4.70 - Oki Electric - Keyboard Assembly - Injection Molded Plastic Keys, Mounted on Stamped Metal Backing Plate, w/ Interconnect Flex

$4.40 - Webcam PCB - Contains 1.3MP Camera Module, USB2.0 Video Interface Controller & Supporting Elements

$3.02 - HannStar - 6-Layer - FR4

Direct Materials $263.46

Total BOM Cost$270.16

What Is Not Included in our Cost Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Based on markings, the unit was assembled in China. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc.) were also sourced in China.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of "finished" sub-assemblies (such as Display Module), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto" inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The Lenovo S10-3t has an overall component count of 1530 excluding box contents. Typical netbooks have a complexity of approximately 1300 parts and therefore the Lenovo falls within the upper range of that category.

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design. The cost of manufacturing is also, to some extent, decreased in this case because of assumed labor rate applied for China.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

The core of Lenovo's S10-3t netbook design is quite common featuring Intel Atom N450 and a NM10 controller hub. What sets the netbook tablet apart is the use of a capacitive multitouch screen overlay and the dual touchscreen controllers by Suzhou Pixcir Electronics. This multi touch tablet design gives the Lenovo the ability to operate in both convention netbook mode as well as in a tablet form.