Sharp S01SH (EM One) Ultra Mobile PC Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Sharp S01SH ("EM ONE") is an Ultra-Mobile PC primarily, but has HSDPA 3.6Mbps downlink capabilities, and a digital terrestrial receiver. The device runs Windows Mobile 5.0, and also features a unique two-way, sliding mechanism, which allows the user to slide the device open in one direction to activate camera mode, and in another direction to activate the full qwerty keyboard.

The EM ONE It is very compact and slick when compared to the other UMPCs we have recently analyzed, specifically the Samsung Q1B and Sony Vaio VGN-UX50, which were both clunkier but also more powerful devices running full-fledged Windows OS and featuring mobile PC architecture internally - whereas this device's architecture is closer to PDA/phones internally (Marvell PXA270 processor, Nvidia GoForce 5500, and a Qualcomm MSM6280 chipset).

Target Market

The device will be initially available in Japan - for now. This device has a feature set and wireless standards that would allow it to be used beyond Japan's borders, but the feature-set, and focus on digital terrestrial TV seems most suited for the Japan market where the mobile TV application seems to have the most penetration and interest.

Released

Based on press information it appears this device was launched formally in March 2007.

Pricing and Availability

Around 95,000 Yen (with no subsidies) in Japan at the time of writing (June 2007). The device can be purchased at a subsidized discount (71,000 Yen with a 1 year service contract and 39,800 Yen with 2 year service contract). This device is offered in Japan by E Mobile.

Volume Estimations

For this particular model, in light of our conservative forecast for the segment, as well as competition from different technologies and companies (see below), we estimate only 50,000 units for this Sharp device to be produced over an approximate 2-year lifetime.

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.

Market Sector / Performance

iSuppli has a very conservative forecast on the UMPC market, where we believe under our most likely forecast scenario, the segment will reach unit shipments of just under 6 million units in 2011, resulting in a unit compound annual growth rate of 100%. Our conservative forecast is due to the fact that the UMPC will be competing against smartphones and notebook PCs, which are both very buoyant currently and very established in terms of mainstream consumer mindshare and perception.

Function / Performance

No performance testing was performed on the Sharp S01SH.

Cost Notes

Main Cost Drivers (Representing ~79% of total materials cost)

~$87 - Option Wireless - HSDPA 3.6 Mbps embedded module

~$40 - Display module with touchscreen overlay

~$17 - Samsung - KAL00A00VM-D8YY - MCP - 4Gb NAND Flash (2x2Gb) + 1Gb Mobile SDRAM (Assumed Based on Published Specifications)

~$14 - Murata - 802.11 b/g module - Features Marvell core IC

~$13 - Marvell Technology - RCPXA270C5C520 - Applications Processor - 520MHz, 256KB Internal SRAM

~$12 - Nvidia - GoForce5500 - GPU - 200MHz, DVB-H / ISDB-T / DMB Support

~$11 - Sharp - Digital Terrestrial Broadcast Receiver Module

~$8 - Main PCB - 8 Layer - FR4/RCF HDI, 2+4+2, Lead-Free

~$7 - Camera Module - 1.3MP

Total BOM Costs (Direct Materials Only)~$265

Total BOM & Manufacturing Costs ~$359

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 Japan. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc. were sourced in Japan, as well.

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 modular Bluetooth solutions), 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

UMPCs are complex by nature and have complexities that are similar to slider phones with advanced, precision mechanical components (especially for the two-way sliding feature on this device), and the inherent complexities of manufacturing and cost when a device is split electronically into two separate "spheres" (more interconnect and flex PCBs, with the associated and inherent adders for cost that this engenders.)

As we have seen from other dense products, where the design envelope is typically pushed by the drive to have ultra-compact form factors with maximum functionality, designers are obliged to use more costly manners of implementing all aspects of the design. Onboard electronic component density is heavy but inline with PDA designs.

In terms of interconnect, dense designs often implement expensive flex circuitry to help interconnect various ports. Flex circuits are always more costly than basic rigid PCBAs and manufacturing costs for flex circuits are also more expensive than with rigid PCBAs. Because the Q1B has the "sliding screen" feature, this design is inherently more complex than if the design did not offer the sliding feature.

The Sharp S01SH features a total component count of 1622 components, of which 257 components are mechanical in nature. In terms of the component count in the Sharp S01SH, the component count is at the very high-end for a mobile device (i.e. PDA), but in line with similar devices - ultra mobile PCs.

The Samsung Q1B (recently analyzed) for example, featured a total component count of 1474 components (but did not feature any sliding mechanisms). The Sony Vaio UMPC (VGN-UX50) also had a total component count of 1736 (for the core device only - not the docking station, etc.).

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 Sharp S01SH electronic design falls more on the mobile phone / PDA side of the design fence, rather than other previously analyzed UMPCs which fell more in the conventional computing design realm. Simply put, the other UMPCs we looked at came from the world of PCs and were akin to notebook designs with CPU, North and Southbridges, GPU, etc. This design, on the other hand, come straight from the world of PDAs with an Marvell (Intel) PXA270 core mobile processor, Nvidia GoForce 5500 "Handheld" chip. The core wireless network interface is provided by a module produced by Option wireless and is based on the commonly seen MSM6280 (HSDPA) baseband chip and chipset solution from Qualcomm.

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Sharp S01SH design:

Main PCB

MPU / Glue Logic

Applications Processor - Marvell Technology - RCPXA270C5C520

CPLD - Xilinx - XC2C256-7CP132C

User Interface (w/GPU)

GPU - Nvidia - GoForce 5500

Audio Codec - Wolfson Microelectronics - WM8983GEFL/V

WLAN Module - Murata - (Contains Marvell Contains Marvell core (88W8686)

Bluetooth Module - Murata (Contains CSR BlueCore4-ROM Single Chip Bluetooth V2.0+EDR)

Wireless Interface PCB - Option Wireless MO1204

Baseband Processor - Qualcomm - MSM6280 (HSDPA 3.6/7.2)

Power Management IC - Qualcomm - PM6650

RF Transceiver - ZIF - Qualcomm - RTR6275

RF Receiver - ZIF - Qualcomm - RFR6275

ISDB-T Reception PCB and Module

Texas Instruments - ISDB-T Receiver

Display

4.1 Inch diagonal - TFT CG Silicon - Transflective, ASV - 4-Wire Touch Screen Overlay - 800x480 - 65K Color