Gateway GZ7220 Computer Teardown

Main Features / Overview

All-in-one PC from Gateway, the One GZ7220 is part of a new line of Gateway all-in-ones designed to compete more head-on with Apple's hardware approach (and follows the trend of other PC manufacturers to enter this 'space'). The Gateway One features a 19 inch LCD widescreen, an Intel® Core™2 Duo T7250 processor with Intel® P965 chipset, 3GB of DDR2 SDRAM, a 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive, and ATI Radeon 2600 XT graphics.

But it feels like Gateway is cheating by not really 'integrating' all into one. First of all, in order to avoid wire clutter (for better or worse) Gateway have chosen to transfer the connectors to the power supply, turning the power supply into a connector satellite - even putting the power supply outside feel a bit like cheating (a la Apple Mac Mini). Then there's the external camera module, and the external TV tuner. So much for eliminating clutter.

Basically this Gateway falls a little short of competing with a 20 inch Apple iMac and certainly of Dell's XPS one analyzed by iSuppli. From a hardware perspective and a retail price perspective, the Gateway One and Apple 20 iMac systems are more or less equal - with the OS being the main differentiator.

Gateway GZ7220 Computer Main Image

High-end consumer.

Released

November 2007.

Pricing and Availability

Gateway's One is selling on their website at the time of writing (April 2008) starting at $1299 (GZ7108). The model we got to analyze (GZ7220) retails for $1799.99.

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis we have assumed that the production volume of the Gateway One is 375 K units for the lifetime (2 - 2.5 yrs) of the product.

As a reminder, volume production assumptions are meant primarily to be 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), and not necessarily as a market accurate estimate for a specific model. Our estimations are based on iSuppli market research and we derive rational estimates based on overall market shares of the manufacturer in question, as well as the number of products in a given portfolio and the relative popularity of certain lines of products.

Gateway GZ7220 Computer - Motherboard Top

Market Sector / Performance

Per iSuppli's Compute Platforms Market Tracker - Q1 2008, in 2007 Acer (which has acquired Gateway) maintained, per iSuppli research, the number three slot in terms of PC overall shipments, at a level of over 24 million units, which represented an approximate market share of 9%. Acer held the #4 slot in 2007 for desktop PCs In 2008, we expect the desktop PC market to grow unit shipments to 163 million units, representing year on year unit shipment growth of 3.2 percent.

We have yet to forecast the all-in-one desktop PC as a separate category, but it should be expected to grow at a healthy rate as it represents an aesthetic evolution for PCs taking them out of the home office and re-purposing them to a more prominent position within the household.

Gateway GZ7220 Computer Cost Analysis

When compared with other all-in-one systems, each manufacturer chooses to integrate (or not) various functions such as camera, TV tuner, power supply, etc. Though box contents were considered beyond the scope of our cost analysis for these all-in-one systems, we have chosen to include those items that were external in the Gateway but internal in some competing systems (specifically as mentioned: the camera module, TV tuner and power supply) to make their totals more comparable.

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 and test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of Intel®lectual 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.

Function / Performance

No performance testing was performed on the Gateway One GZ7220.

Manufacturing Notes

Acer's and Gateway's ODM Partners and Manufacturing

Acer used ODMs Quanta, Compal, Wistron, and a small amount with Inventec (all of them Taiwan-based ODMs) in 2006 for manufacturing their notebook systems. During that same timeframe, before Acer's acquisition of Gateway, Gateway themselves were working (in the mobile PC space at least) with ODMs Arima, Quanta and Wistron. We do not yet know at this stage how the Acer acquisition has affected these relationships, or which of these ODMs might be supplying this all in one for Gateway - but it is likely to be one of the notebook ODMs.

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

As with all computer systems, this system has a number of various sub-assemblies built in various countries - see the 'Overview' section on the online presentation for a list of countries of origin for the major sub-assemblies such as display, hard drive, etc. It is assumed, when not otherwise labeled, that all other unlabeled components and systems were produced by suppliers in areas of the lowest possible regional cost: China. Final assembly here is confirmed as China - and for the Accessory PCBs, we have simplified, (out of spreadsheet necessity and as this is an amalgam of small PCBs) our calculations to assume that all were made 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 chargers), 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.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

All in one systems are typically built more like upright laptops than desktops in their architecture and design choices. They are built in this way in order to take advantage of smaller, more compact components, to allow for a sleeker envelope for the product. The end result is not only more expensive than a conventional desktop design because of the components used, but is more complicated to manufacture as the working spaces are tighter, more tightly packed, and less modular. This inevitably adds some cycle time and cost for hand assembly.

Also, 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 or desktop-style super-standard ribbon cables / cable harnesses.

In terms of the component count in the Gateway, the component count is in line with other all-in-one computers at a total of 2596 components (not including box contents, external components, systems and accessories) of which 255 are mechanical components. One important note: modular assemblies, such as hard drives, optical drives and purchased items such as the WLAN modules, are counted as a single unit in this analysis - refer to BOM for details on which items are fully broken down and itemized to the sub-component level. In most cases where we assume the OEM or their ODM are building the unit 'in-house' we will break down to the lowest level discrete component.

These all-in-one systems, are definitely complex by all metrics and entail a high number of discrete sub-assemblies which inevitably adds cycle time in manufacturing, but also affects yields, rework and ultimately returns, as more complex systems present more opportunities for system failures and defects.

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

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 Gateway One GZ7220 analyzed here features an Intel® Core™2 Duo T7250 processor with Mobile Intel®GM965 Express chipset (LE88CLGMSLA5T and NH82801HEMSLA5R), 3GB of DDR2 SDRAM, and ATI Radeon 2600 XT graphics. Beyond the motherboard this Gateway One features a 19" LCD panel from Chi Mei Optoelectronics (M190A1-L07), a Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology CD/DVD RW Drive (TS-T632A), a Western Digital 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive (WD5000AAKS), and an 802.11n card (Intel®-based).

But, as mentioned above, though Gateway's competitors have tried to integrate as many features as possible into the unit (hence 'all-in-one') Gateway have opted, oddly, to externalize several features - such as the camera module, TV tuner, modem, and though it's fairly common to do it as an external unit, the power supply as well.

Gateway GZ7220 Computer - Motherboard Bottom

Motherboard

CPU

CPU - Intel® Core™2 Duo Mobile Processor, 2.0GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, 65nm Process - Intel® - LF80537GG0412M (Core™2 Duo T7250 OEM)

Northbridge

Northbridge - Memory Controller and Graphics Hub - Intel® - LE88CLGMSLA5T (GM965)

Southbridge

Southbridge - I/O Controller Hub - Intel® - NH82801HEMSLA5R (ICH8M-E)

I/O & Interface

Codec - HD Audio, 8-Channel, w/ Digital Microphone Interface - Sigmatel - STAC9227X5TAEyy

IEEE1394 Host Controller - Integrated 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/Link-Layer - Texas Instruments - TSB43AB22APDT

I/O Controller - Super I/O, w/ Glue Functions, LPC Interface - Winbond - WPCD376I

Ethernet Transceiver - Gigabit LAN Connect Interface - Intel® - RU82566MC

Hardware Monitor w/ Integrated Fan Control - Andigilog - aSC7611QS24

Clock

Clock Generator - IDT - ICS9LP505-1HGLF

Memory

Flash - NOR, 8Mb, SPI - Winbond - W25X80VSSIG

SODIMM Memory

SODIMM DDR2 - 1GB, 667MHz - Samsung Semiconductor - M470T2953EZ3-CE6

SODIMM DDR2 - 2GB, 667MHz - Samsung Semiconductor - M470T5663CZ3-CE6

Card Reader PCB

Card Reader Controller - CF/SM/SD/MMC/MS/xD/MD - Realtek - RTS5151N

Wireless USB PCB

RF Transciever - WirelessUSB, 2.4GHz - Cypress Semiconductor - CYRF6936-40LFXC

GFX MXM Card

GPU - ATI Avivo HD Video & Display Architecture, PCI Express X16 Interface, 128-Bit 4-Channel Memory Interface, DirectX 10.0, 390 Million Transistors, 65nm Process - AMD - Mobility Radeon HD 2600XT

Display

19' TFT LCD - 1440 x 900 Pixels, 16.7M Color, 410.4mm x 256.5mm Viewable Area, 16:10 Aspect Ratio, 0.285mm Pixel Size, 300Cd/m2, 1000:1 Contrast Ratio, 5ms Response Time - Chi Mei Optoelectronics - M190A1-L07

Optical Drive

CD/DVD RW Drive - Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology - TS-T632A

Hard Drive

3.5' 500 GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s - Western Digital - WD5000AAKS

Mini PCIe WLAN Card

Mini PCIe WLAN Card (Intel® PC82535MDE Chipset) - Intel® - 4965AGN

Baseband Processor - 802.11n - Intel® - PC82535MDE

WLAN Radio - 802.11n - Intel® - JC82535RDE

External USB TV Tuner

External USB TV Tuner - Avermedia - M039U

TV Tuner IC - Hybrid Digital & Analog, w/ Integrated Analog Demodulator - Xceive - XC3028ACQ

ATSC Demodulator - VSB/QAM - LG Electronics - LGDT3303

A/V Encoder - MPEG II - Conexant - CX23416

External USB Modem Module

Modem IC - V.90/.92 - LSI Logic - SV92U2

External Camera Module

External USB Camera - 1.3MP

Camera Controller - Sonix Technology - SN9C255