Nokia 6280 Mobile Phone Teardown

Main Features

High-end, WCDMA/EDGE Dual-cam phone (with 2MP primary camera, VGA secondary) slider, with Bluetooth, FM radio, 262K 2.2 Inch TFT display, MiniSD memory slot. One of the most feature-rich phones we have analyzed to date.

Nokia 6280 Mobile Phone Main Image

W-CDMA Background

W-CDMA is the upgrade path for GSM based networks. It offers data rates of up to 384kbps. W-CDMA started in Japan in 2001 with NTTDocomo's FOMA service, but only started to gain momentum in 2003 and 2004. Last year, W-CMDA finally saw a rollout in Europe.

At the end of 2004, Japan had over 8 million W-CDMA subscribers, and iSuppli estimates that at the end of 2005 the number will stand at approximately 20 million. Europe ended 2004 with just over 8 million W-CDMA subscribers, and by the end of 2005 will have approximately 30 million W-CDMA subscribers.

W-CMDA will continue its growth in both regions, with a bulk of the growth coming from Europe. In Europe, dual-mode handsets are being deployed that support W-CDMA and GPRS or EDGE. With dual-mode handsets, coverage is still ubiquitous as W-CDMA is being deployed in urban areas initially.

The same story for W-CDMA will take place in other regions of the world, such as North America, as W-CDMA launches start there this year. GSM based service providers in North America are pushing forward with W-CDMA, as they did with EDGE, to compete with CDMA2000 1x.

Nokia 6280 Mobile Phone - Main PCB Bottom

Nokia has always been known as the candybar-only form-factor company, but recently has made a concerted effort to delve into other more exotic form factors, such as this slider from Nokia. The Nokia 6280 was released simultaneously as one of 4 slide models including, the Nokia 6265 (CDMA), 6270 (quad-band), and 6111 (tri-band).

One of the best sliders we have seen to date was the Samsung SGH-D500 (w/ 1.3MP camera), and generally speaking, Samsung seems to have been the 'slider' trailblazer, however unlike the D500, this model takes things a step further with the implementation of 2MP camera AND a VGA front camera.

Until we saw this phone the main phones we analyzed of this type (WCDMA, dual camera, high-end) were Motorola phones aimed at the Japnese market primarily. This implementation is far better, in a smaller form factor and lighter than the Motorola behemoths we saw earlier (on a side note, more recent WCDMA releases from Motorola have improved in that respect).

According to Nokia - the 6280 should be available for 375 Euros unsubsidized.

Target Market

This high-end model is clearly aimed at well-developed, high-tech markets. The only phones we have seen like this in the recent past were aimed primarily at cutting-edge markets in Asia - and this is probably Nokia's attempt to gain the respect and fancy of heretofore elusive Asian (Japanese) consumers.

Nokia 6280 Mobile Phone - Main PCB Top

The press release for this phone is dated January, 13 2005, however, despite this early release announcement this model we analyzed was a prototype (in Q4, 2005), and Internet threads seem to indicate it is still not out on the market. According to Nokia's own release, product was to begin shipping Q4, 2005.

Regional Availability (Per Nokia website)

Africa, Asia-Pacific, China, Europe, and Latin America.

Volume Estimations

We are using the estimate of 1.5M units for lifetime production. As a reminder, volume production assumptions primarily affect our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially).

Market Shares / Sector Performance

We estimate that Nokia had an average market share in 2005 (based on global unit volumes), of around one-third of the entire unit shipments globally, which is estimated around 780M units for 2005. However, high-end phones such as this, especially those in the WCDMA group - are a much smaller portion of the market and of Nokia's sales. In fact, using iSuppli's design forecast tool, we estimate that Nokia should ship about 10.5M units of WCDMA/GSM phones (of which this model is one portion) in 2005, and that number will grow to an estimated 20M units or so in 2006. Furthermore, we estimate that Nokia will ship no more than 3M units of camera phones with primary cameras of 2MP and higher resolution. However, this figure is expected to explode in 2006, jumping to 43M units.

Function / Performance

Performance testing was not performed on the Nokia 6280.

Nokia 6280 Mobile Phone Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing approximately 63% of total materials costs

Display

Primary Camera Module - 2MP, CMOS

Memory Chips

(Combined 192Mb SDRAM, 256Mb Flash)

DBB Chip (Texas Instruments)

RF Transceiver Module (ST Micro)

Applications Processor (

FM Radio / Bluetooth Module (Murata)

Materials and Manufacturing*

* - 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 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 any literature, packaging, and accessories supplied with the phone itself.

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / EMS provider

The Nokia 6280 we received was a prototype labeled as Made in China. Often prototypes, or initial runs of phones we see may be manufactured in high-cost areas of Europe (in the case of Nokia, Siemens and SonyEricsson), afterwhich we then assume that volume production is typically moved to lower cost regions either in Eastern Europe, or China, which is, of course, becoming ever more popular.

In this case, however, it appears that the prototype is already being produced in China, so we would assume that mass production is not going to move away. Furthermore, generally speaking, when we see a device that has final assembly in China, unless otherwise noted we generally assume that PCBA manufacturing and the sourcing of custom mechanicals (plastics and metals) are done with local sources due to the disproportionate transport costs with such items. So for the Nokia 6280, it is assumed that all of these steps take place domestically in China at stated loaded labor rates in the overview section.

Design for Manufacturing / Complexity

There are 558 components in the Nokia 6280 vs 570 components in the somewhat comparable Motorola E770v (both of which are essentially similar dual camera module WCDMA phones). Component count is a reasonable proxy for and indicator of relative complexity of phones, and the number and type of discrete components at every level relates directly to manufacturing time and cost. Phones with complicated mechnical formats (slider phones, clamshell, etc) typically have an elevated component count due to the more mechanically sophisticated nature of the design.

These two phones, however, have significantly fewer (about 100 components fewer) than phones recently analyzed with similar functionality, an indicator that integration is having an effect, as one would expect, on evolving designs. Despite the high end nature, and the slider form factor on the Nokia 6280.

Nokia 6280 Mobile Phone - Antenna and Loudspeaker Elements

Design Notes

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Nokia 6280 design:

Baseband

• Texas Instruments - NMP #4377151 - DBB - Digital Baseband Processor
• ST Microelectronics - NMP #4396177 - ABB - Analog Baseband / Power Management

Memory

• NOR Flash - Samsung - K8S5615ETA-FE7C - 256Mb (16 Banks x 16)
• SDRAM - Samsung - K4M28163PF-VG75 - 128Mb
• Micron Technology - MT48H4M16LFB3-75 - SDRAM - Mobile, 64Mb

RF/PA

• ST Microelectronics - NMP #4396275
• RF Transceiver - MCM
• Duplexer - WCDMA
• Epcos - Antenna Switch
• GSM - PAM - RF Micro Devices - NMP #4355845
• WCMDA - PAM - RF Micro Devices - 9372E4.1

User Interface

Module - FM Radio / Bluetooth

Applications Processor - TI - OMAP Processor

Display

Camera Module (Primary - Rear)

Camera Module (Secondary - Front)

• • Murata
    FA561776A
    Module consists of:
    Philips - TEA5761UK - FM Radio
    CSR - BC41B143A - Bluetooth - Single Chip Solution
  • 2.2 Inch diagonal TFT, 240x320, 262K Color
  • CMOS / 2MP Resolution - Fixed Lens Snap-In Module (common to many Nokia designs)
  • CMOS / VGA Resolution - Fixed Lens Snap-In Module (common to many Nokia designs)