Samsung SGH-Z140V Mobile Phone Teardown

Main Features

Upper mid-range clamshell 3G UMTS / Tri-Band GSM VGA camera phone (no flash) - also features other higher end features such as a transflective 1.8 inch QCIF+ 262K color screen and Bluetooth (in addition to the classic IrDA).

Samsung SGH-Z140V Mobile Phone Main Image

Having recently analyzed the 1.3MP camera phone from Samsung (SGH-D500) the comparisons are inevitable. In fact - aesthetically and feature wise the two camera phones are very similar - both have a pretty full contingent of high-end features, and here specifically the UMTS/3G feature is key - but this phone cheaps out on the camera (VGA), keeping it in, what we would classify as upper mid-range. The Z140 features a significant amount of onboard memory (single MCP features NAND 1024Mb and PSRAM 512Mb), but no external expansion capability. Is Samsung determined to foil all user attempts at getting data out of a phone other than by paid WAP - yet again!?.

The particular model being analyzed here is the SGH-Z140V (with the Vodafone indicator at the end) but it is assumed that there is no customization of the device from a feature standpoint and that the V is merely to segregate the product as privately labeled.

The Z140 was released in June 2005, and was one of many new phones in a 'block' release from Samsung, and was part of a new portfolio of 3G phones released which include the SGH-Z700, SGH-Z500, SGH-Z300, and SGH-Z130 models. It is unclear at this point what the main focus regions for release are, but as is often the case with such phones, it appears that the regional strategy is everywhere except the US.

About 48% of phones of the estimated 750M phones to be produced in 2005 will be camera phones. Furthermore, the sweet spot in camera phones has been the VGA resolution level for some time, and in 2005 we expect that about 80% of camera phones will be VGA resolution, and only 18% of cameraphone handset volume to be in the 1 to 2 MP resolution range. 1 to 2MP camera phones are expected to grow to about one quarter of cameraphone sales in 2006. Furthermore, with general handset unit manufacturing rates growing at a healthy rate during the coming years, camera module unit sales will grow substantially.

Based on the above market estimates, as well as the feature-set of the phone we expect this phone to be relegated to lower volume sales than the other phones analyzed here and have assumed a total lifetime production quantity of 3 million units over 2 years.

Function / Performance

Functional testing was not performed on the Samsung SGH-Z140V.

Samsung SGH-Z140V Mobile Phone - Main PCB Bottom

Phone costs are largely feature driven, but also driven by general manufacturing complexity, design for manufacturing (or DFM), component counts and of course the country where they are assembled. This phone is fairly complex, due to some extent to the clamshell form factor but primarily because of the higher-end nature of the phone and feature set driving costs - mainly the 3G fuinctionality which increases the RF section cost by several dollars, but also twin TFT displays, and a large memory MCP.

Main Cost Drivers representing approximately xx% of total materials costs

Primary & Secondary Display

176x220 262K Color 1.8 Inch

96 x 96 65K Color 1.1 Inch

MCP (NAND 1024Mb, SDRAM 512Mb - Samsung)

Single chip baseband (Qualcomm)

RF Transceivers (UMTS/GSM)

Power Amplifiers (UMTS/GSM)

Camera Module (VGA)

* - The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect only the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), manufacturing and test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the manufacture of the core device itself - cost of 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 (the phone and packaging, in this case) itself.

Samsung SGH-Z140V Mobile Phone Cost Analysis

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions - As is typically the case with Samsung phones - the product is labeled as Made in Korea, and even the charger, suprprisingly was labeled as Made in Korea - whereas, almost every charger we now see is made in China. Furthermore, we have assumed that for the Z140V, the PCB was also stuffed in Korea, but that custom mechanicals (plastics and metals) were sourced from China.

The high production volume assumption effectively amortizes most NRE and tooling costs to a point where changes in quantity assumptions, or even the country of origin will have a minor effect on overall pricing.

Samsung SGH-Z140V Mobile Phone - Main PCB Top

Design for Manufacturing - Samsung phones are rarely the most integrated phones we see, and are rarely, if ever designed around custom ASICs, which might allow for a higher degree of electrical component integration - furthermore, whereas we often see integrated ESD/EMI filtering solutions in the major manufacturer's phones, such as Nokia and SonyEricsson, Samsung typically still employ discrete component solutions in these cases, adding to the part count. Mechanically, clamshell phones always add to the part count and overall complexity, adding cycle times to manufacturing, and increasing the risks of failure or rework.

Design Notes

From an electronic design perspective there are two main noteworthy aspects to point out here:

1) The use of the 'all-in-one' DBB baseband solution from Qualcomm (MSM6250). This chip really centralizes all of the functionality of the phone including even Bluetooth baseband functionality, as well as GPS functionality. We have also seen the Qualcomm MSM6200 chip in

2) This device has not been seen in previously analyzed phones, and in fact this NAND/SDRAM looks to be the first example of a NOR-less phone to date. It is rare to see a phone with no discrete NOR Flash - in fact this is the first time we have seen this memory architecture which competes with the classic NOR/PSRAM memory combination seen in most mobile phones.

Baseband

• DBB - Qualcomm - MSM6250 - Single chip baseband solution

Baseband - Battery / Power Management

• Power Management IC - Qualcomm - PM6650

Memory

• MCP - Samsung Semiconductor - KBE00F005M-F411000 - 4 Chips, 2 NAND (512Mb each) + 2 Mobile SDRAM (256Mb each)

RF/PA

• PAM (GSM) - Skyworks - SKY77328 - Quad-Band, GSM850/EGSM900/DCS1800/PCS1900
• PAM (WCDMA) - Agilent - ACPM-7881
• RF Transceiver (GSM/UMTS) - Qualcomm - RTR6250 - Quad-Band GSM/GPRS Transceiver and WCDMA (UMTS) Transmitter
• RF Transceiver - Qualcomm - RFR6200 - ZIF, UMTS
• Antenna Switch - Sony - CXG1190EQ

User Interface

• Bluetooth - In Digital Baseband Processor
• FM Sound Synthesizer - Yamaha - YMU765

Displays

• Primary - TFT 1.8 Inch 176 x 220 262K Color
• Secondary - TFT 1.1 Inch 96 x 96 65K Color

Camera Module

• VGA/CMOS 1/6 Inch Sensor in pivoting housing

Samsung SGH-Z140V Mobile Phone - Main Rear Enclosure Disassembled