Samsung Galaxy S4 SHV-E300S Mobile Handset Teardown

Summary Points

• Latest flagship Galaxy series phone from Samsung
• There are several important variations of the S4 for different markets - this is the KOREAN version
• Elevated hardware budget for this device - but cost ~$787 USD (~900K KRW) in Korea
• Leverages internal Samsung Semiconductor extensively (Octacore processor, wireless chips)
• Exynos 5 (Octacore) processor is big differentiator with US version (based on QCOM design)
• Samsung internal content represents ~95% of top 10 cost drivers

Target Market

High-End Smartphone

April 25, 2013 In Korea (this model)

Pricing and Availability

~900,000 KRW

South Korea / SK Telecom The specific variant of S4 in this teardown is for SK Telecom in South Korea

Samsung Galaxy S4 SHV-E300S Mobile Handset - Main PCB Top

50,000,000 Annual Production Volume
1 Product Lifetime (Years)

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed an Annual Production Volume of 50000000 units and a Product Lifetime Volume of 1 year(s).

Teardown volume and 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.

Samsung Galaxy S4 SHV-E300S Mobile Handset Cost Analysis

Total BOM: $229.85
Top Cost Drivers below: $166.09
% of Total BOM 72%

Main Cost Drivers below

SAMSUNG MOBILE DISPLAY AMS499QP01 Display / Touchscreen Module - 4.99' Diagonal, On-Cell Touch AMOLED, 16.7M Color, 1920 x 1080 Pixels, 57.5um x 57.5um Pixel Size, 110.4mm x 62.1mm Viewable Area, w/ Corning Gorilla®Glass3 Cover Glass, & Synaptics S5000B Touch Controller- (Qty: 1)
SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR INC Exynos 5410 Applications Processor - Exynos 5 Octa Core, Quad Cortex-A15 1.6GHz Cores & Quad Cortex-A7 1.2GHz Cores, big.LITTLE Architecture, PowerVR SGX544MP3 GPU, 28nm, PoP- (Qty: 1)
SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR INC KLMBG4GEAC-B001 Flash - eMMC NAND, 32GB, MLC- (Qty: 1)
Primary Camera Module - 13MP, BSI CMOS, 1/3.06' Format, Auto Focus Lens- (Qty: 1)
SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR INC K3QF2F200C-XGCE SDRAM - Mobile DDR3, 2GB, PoP- (Qty: 1)
SAMSUNG SDI NA1D422GS/2-B Battery - Li-Ion, 3.8V, 2600mAh, 9.88Wh, w/ Integrated NFC Antenna- (Qty: 2)
SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR INC Baseband Processor - GSM/HSPA+/LTE, PoP- (Qty: 1)
Bluetooth / FM / WLAN Module - Contains Broadcom BCM4335 & Skyworks SKY85303 FEM, IEEE 802.11ac, Bluetooth V4.0+HS, FM Receiver- (Qty: 1)
KOREA CIRCUIT CO LTD 10-Layer - FR4/RCF HDI, 3+4+3, Lead-Free, Halogen-Free- (Qty: 1)
SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR INC RF Transceiver- (Qty: 1)

Samsung Galaxy S4 SHV-E300S Mobile Handset - Main PCB Bottom

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.

We do provide an Excel tab 'Overall Costs' where a user can enter their known pre and post production costs to build a per unit cost reflective of theirs actual expenditures.

Country of Origin

For the purposes of this analysis, we are assuming the following country(ies) of origin for each level of assembly, based on a combination of 'Made In' markings, and/or assumptions based on our knowledge of such equipment.

Box Contents - China
Camera Assembly - China
Display / Touchscreen - China
Main PCB - China
Misc PCB Assemblies - China
Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly - 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 combo modules), 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.

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.

Samsung Galaxy S4 SHV-E300S Mobile Handset - Disassembly View 1

Component counts by assembly and the number of assembly are indicators of design complexity and efficiency.

Component Qty: 962 - Main PCB
Component Qty: 40 - Display / Touchscreen
Component Qty: 97 - Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly
Component Qty: 67 - Camera Assembly
Component Qty: 29 - Box Contents
Component Qty: 85 - Misc PCB Assemblies
Component Qty: 1280 - Grand Total