Acer eMachine E725-4520 Notebook Computer Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Acer eMachine E725-4520 is a 15.6 inch value notebook computer based on the Intel Pentium T4400 CPU and GL40 Express chipset. The laptop comes with 3 GB of DDR3 RAM on 2 SO-DIMM modules, 250GB hard disk drive, DVD-RW optical drive, WLAN half miniPCIe card and a 6-cell battery.

Acer eMachine E725-4520 Notebook Computer Main Image

Low cost computing segment

Released

2009

Acer eMachine E725-4520 Notebook Computer - Motherboard Top

Pricing - Approximately $400 USD (at time of writing - June 28, 2010)

Availability - Global (assumed)

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 3.6M 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.

Acer eMachine E725-4520 Notebook Computer - Motherboard Bottom

Main Cost Drivers Representing ~85% of total materials cost

LG Display - LP156WH1-TLA3 - Display Module Value Line Item - 15.6' TFT LCD, TN Mode, 1366 x 768 Pixels, Unknown Pixel Size, 262K Colors, 400:1 Contrast Ratio, 220cd/m^2 Brightness, 8ms Response Time, CCFL Backlight

Samsung Semiconductor - M471B5673FH0-CF8 - SO-DIMM DDR3-1066 - 2GB, 256Mx64, 1.5V

Western Digital - WD2500BEVT - Hard Drive - 250GB, 2.5' SATA 3Gb/s, 5400RPM, 8MB Buffer

Sony Optiarc Inc. - AD-7580S - CD/DVD RW Drive - Slim Internal Type, Tray Load, SATA

Intel - AW80577GG0491MA - CPU - Intel Pentium T4400, 2.2GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB, 45nm Process

AS09A41 - Battery Pack - Li-Ion, 6-Cell, 11.1V, 4400mAh, 49Wh

Hynix - HMT112S6BFR6C-G7 - SO-DIMM DDR3-1066 - 1GB, 128Mx64, 1.5V

Intel - AC82GL40SLGGM - Northbridge - Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (Intel 82GL40)

Intel - AF82801IBMSLB8Q - Southbridge - I/O Controller Hub (Intel ICH9M)

HannStar - 6-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free

Lite-On - PA-1650-22 - AC Adapter - 19V, 3.42A, 65W, w/ 6ft Cord & Velcro Strap

Enclosure, Main, Top - Injection Molded ABS Polycarbonate, Printed, w/ ESD/EMI Coating & 17 Brass Inserts

Enclosure, Main, Bottom - Injection Molded ABS Polycarbonate, Talc Filled, w/ ESD/EMI Coating & 19 Brass Inserts

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

Atheros - AR5B95 - WLAN Half Mini PCIe Module Value Line Item - IEEE802.11b/g/n, Contains AR9285 Single-Chip Solution

Acer eMachine E725-4520 Notebook Computer - Device Disassembly 5

Acer eMachine E725-4520 Notebook Computer Cost Analysis

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 miniPCIe card), 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 eMachine E725 notebook has an overall component count of 1494 excluding box contents.

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.

Acer eMachine E725-4520 Notebook Computer - Box Contents