Motorola VIP1616T Set-Top Box Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Motorola VIP1616T is a hybrid terrestrial DVB set top box with DVR capabilities designed for the European market. The VIP1616T features 160GB capacity hard disk storage for recording of both HD and SD content. At the core of the Motorola set top is a Sigma Designs Media processor capable of MPEG-4 decoding. The hybrid set top box also features a dual DVB-T tuner by ST Microelectronics.

Motorola VIP1616T Set-Top Box Main Image

Terrestrial DVB TV service providers

Released

Unknown

Pricing and Availability

Pricing - Reference pricing is not available since content providers only leases equipment to subscribers as part in parcel of their television service package.

Availability - Europe

Motorola VIP1616T Set-Top Box Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing ~70% of total materials cost

Seagate - ST3160215ACE - Hard Drive - 160GB, 3.5', PATA, 100MB/s, 7200RPM, 2MB Buffer

Sigma Designs - SMP8634LF - Media Processor - MPEG-4.10 (H.264), SMPTE 421M (VC-1)

UniMicron Technology - 4-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free

Lite-On - PE-1500-01A-ROHS - AC Adapter - Input: 200-240V, 2A, 50-60Hz, Output: 12V, 3.5A (42W)

Futaba - VFD - 5x7 Dot Matrix, 14-Characters, 109.2mm x 16.4mm Screen Area

Altera - EPM570T144C5N - CPLD - MAX II, 570 Logic Elements, 160 Max User I/O, 0.18um, 6-Layer Metal Flash Process

ST Microelectronics - STV0361 - Demodulator IC - COFDM, w/ MPEG-2 Decoder, for Terrestrial TV Set-Top Box (Qty:2)

Samsung Semiconductor - K4H561638H-UCCC - SDRAM - DDR, 256Mb (16Mx16), 2.5V, 200MHz (Qty:4)

Enclosure, Main, Bottom - Stamped / Formed Electro-Galvanized Steel, Painted, Printed, w/ 4 Integral Joints

Enclosure, Main, Top - Stamped / Formed Electro-Galvanized Steel, Painted

Enclosure, Main, Front Panel - Injection Molded ABS Polycarbonate, Silver Painted, Printed, Recyclable

Freescale Semiconductor - MC44S803EP - Tuner - Single Chip, Broadband, 3.3V (Qty:2)

UniMicron Technology - 4-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free

Total BOM Cost $115.83

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 hard disk drive), 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.

Motorola VIP1616T Set-Top Box - Disassembly View 1

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The Motorola VIP1616T set top has an overall component count of 1194 (excluding box contents). Typical QAM-based DVR set top boxes have complexity levels of 2000 parts or more. However, IPTV set tops tend to be a much more integrated design as with the VIP1616T which helps to reduce the overall complexity.

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.

Motorola VIP1616T Set-Top Box - Box Contents