Motorola Atrix MB860 Mobile Handset Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Motorola Atrix smartphone is yet another in the succession of one-upsmanship in the market of Android super-phones. In their iteration, Motorola stake a claim to be the first to introduce a dual-core applications processor in the 4.0 inch Atrix superphone which features enterprise grade features such as fingerprint reader and an optional laptop dock (also analyzed in a separate teardown).

Just as with their recent tablet entry, Motorola used the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual ARM Cortex-A9 gigahertz apps processor coupled with a 512MB packaged mobile SDRAM. Designed for the AT&T network, the Motorola Atrix features a tri-band UMTS/HSPA+ radio powered by the now familiar Qualcomm MDM6x00 series thin modem baseband processor. The Atrix is labeled as a 4G device however, it is a bit misleading as the data standard used is technically considered that of the 3G variety (HSPA+ is capable of 4G data rates, however, at the time of writing, AT&T has yet to enable this network protocol to realize the 4G moniker).

Overall, the Atrix is powered by Android 2.2 (Froyo) with the Motorolar Blur UI and service overlay. The handset features a 5MP primary camera as well as a front facing VGA video conference camera. Also, as with most modern smartphones, the Motorola Atrix features a cornucopia of connectivity / protocols - i.e. Bluetooth / WLAN / GPS / accelerometer, ecompass and HDMI output.

Target Market

Smartphone Users

Released

March 2011

Pricing and Availability

Pricing - The Motorola Atrix MB860 is offered by AT&T Wireless for $199 with a 2 year contract. Contract-free price for the device is approximately $699 however cursory review of online resellers shows that the Atrix can sell for as low as $499.

Availability - North America (AT&T Wireless)

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have applied a lifetime production volume of approximately 2M 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 (~85% of Total Materials Cost)

$32.20 - Elpida - EDB8132B1PB-6D-F - SDRAM - Mobile DDR2, 8Gb, PoP

$25 - Display Module Value Line Item - 4.0" Diagonal, 16.7M Color TFT LCD, 960 x 540 Pixels

$23 - SanDisk - SDIN4C2-16G - Flash - iNAND, MLC, 16GB

$20 - Touchscreen Assembly - Capacitive, 4.0" Diagonal, Glass Overlay, Painted, Printed, w/ Integral Flex PCB

$16.53 - Nvidia - AP20H-PHP-A3 - Applications Processor - Dual-Core ARM Cortex-A9 1GHz CPU, GeForce GPU, 1MB L2 Cache, 333MHz FSB, 40nm, PoP

$14.47 - Qualcomm - MDM6200 - Baseband / RF Transceiver - GSM/EDGE/HSPA+, 45nm

$8.96 - Primary Camera Module Value Line Item - 5.0MP CMOS, 1/3.2" Format, Auto Focus Lens, Soldered On Board

$6.79 - Compeq - 10-Layer - FR4/RCF HDI, Stacked Via, Lead-Free

$4.50 - Toshiba Semiconductor - Y9A0A111308LA - MCP - 1Gb NAND Flash + 512Mb Mobile DDR (Estimated)

$4.25 - BH6X - Battery - Li-Ion Polymer, 3.7V, 1930mAh

$4.12 - Broadcom - BCM4329HKUBG - Bluetooth / FM / WLAN - Single Chip, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, FM Receiver and Transmitter, 65nm

$2.20 - HDMI Cable - Type A to Type D, 7ft, w/ Mylar Label & Plastic Tie

$2.19 - ST-Ericsson - Power Management / Audio / Interface SoC

$2.09 - Qualcomm - PM8028 - Power Management IC for Qualcomm Chipset

$2.07 - TriQuint Semiconductor - TQM7M5013 - PAM - Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE

$1.95 - DC4050US0301 - Wall to USB Charger - 5.1V, 850mA, w/ Mylar Label

$1.70 - Fingerprint Sensor w/ Integral Flex PCB

$1.60 - Atmel - mXT224 - Touchscreen Controller - Capacitive, 12-bit, 224-Channel Configuration, 400KHz, w/ I2C Interface

Direct Materials $203.39

Direct Materials + Manufacturing$211.71

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 device markings, we've based our analysis with the final assembly 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 micro USB connectors), 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 Motorola Atrix has an overall component count of 1085 (excluding box contents), of which 907 components reside on the Main PCB. In comparison, the Droid X (previous Motorola superphone we analyzed) had an overall component count of 1074.

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

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Motorola Atrix design:

Display / Touchscreen

• Display Module - 4.0" Diagonal, 16.7M Color TFT LCD, 960 x 540 Pixels
• Touchscreen Assembly - Capacitive, 4.0" Diagonal, Glass Overlay, Painted, Printed, w/ Integral Flex PCB

Main PCB

Memory

• SDRAM - Elpida - EDB8132B1PB-6D-F, Mobile DDR2, 8Gb, PoP
• Flash - SanDisk - SDIN4C2-16G, iNAND, MLC, 16GB
• MCP - Toshiba Semiconductor - Y9A0A111308LA, 1Gb NAND Flash + 512Mb Mobile DDR (Estimated)

Apps Processing

• Applications Processor - Nvidia - AP20H-PHP-A3

Baseband / RF / PA

• Baseband / RF Transceiver - Qualcomm - MDM6200
• PAM - TriQuint Semiconductor - TQM7M5013, Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• PAM - Avago Technologies - ACPM-5005, WCDMA 850
• PAM - Avago Technologies - ACPM-5002, WCDMA 1900
• PAM - Avago Technologies - ACPM-5001, WCDMA 2100

BT / FM / GPS / WLAN

• Bluetooth / FM / WLAN IC - Broadcom - BCM4329HKUBG

Power Management

• Power Management / Audio / Interface SoC - ST-Ericsson
• Power Management IC - Qualcomm - PM8028 (for Qualcomm Chipset)

User Interface

• Electronic Compass - AKM Semiconductor - AKM8975
• Accelerometer & Inclinometer - Kionix -KXTF9 Series, 3- Axis, +-2g/8g, Digital Output
• Switch - Texas Instruments - TS3USB221RSER, Multiplexer/Demultiplexer, USB 2.0, High-Speed

Motorola Atrix MB860 Mobile Handset - Box Contents