Clarion NX501C In-Dash Navigation Unit Teardown

Overview / Main Features

This teardown is for what appears to be a custom, possibly OEM version of a Clarion aftermarket system - the NX501. The standard NX501 differs from the unit we are tearing down NX501C only ever so slightly: the model we are tearing down has a 7 inch diagonal screen (vs 6.2 inch diagonal) and a custom bezel that appears to have been made for a specific car model - though we cannot tell which from the hardware. We believe the "C on the NX501 indicates it is for the China market.

This version of the Clarion NX501C is a conventional head end, or infotainment console unit that features 7' Diagonal, 16.7M Color a-Si TFT, TN Mode, 800 x 480 Pixel, LED-backlit display, and a resistive touchscreen. The Clarion NX501C also features, as most infotainment do, a traditional optical drive (CD/DVD player), a Parrot Bluetooth interface (see BOM and design note for details), and a host of other key features like built in microphone, (and external mic ready), can handle '2-zone' entertainment, USB port (rear) and iPod connect capabilities, and can support rear vision camera, as well as SiRF-based GPS receiver, that leverages one of the beefier SiRF chips we have ever seen in teardown history. The aftermarket standard NX501 Clarion unit also supports Sirius (the version we tore down, as it appears to be for the Chinese market does not feature an SDARS module) and HD radio.

On the inside, the Clarion NX501C features a Bluetooth Media Connectivity module from Parrot (CK5050New), which itself features a Parrot 5+ chip at it's core, and an Infineon PM8763A single-chip Bluetooth solution (V2.1 + EDR). The CSR SiRF prima-TT442. This is the largest chip we have seen in the SiRF family and in 65nm with an ARM11 core and graphics support that makes it also pricier than the other, older legacy SiRF chips we have seen in the past. The Clarion NX501C also features a Zoran DVD processor SoC, and an Intersil LCD controller as core silicon.

Clarion NX501C In-Dash Navigation Unit Main Image

Aftermarket unit - though, this variation looks like it's produced for OEM (unknown vehicle and brand)

Released

Q2 2011 approximately

Clarion NX501C In-Dash Navigation Unit - Main PCB Top

Pricing and Availability

Pricing - The standard aftermarket version of the NX501 MSRP is $999.99 USD per Clarion's website - but retails for under $600 USD from several online retailers at the time of writing.

Availability - China market OEM

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of approximately 400K units over a 2 year lifespan (for an annual cadence of approximately 200K 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.

Clarion NX501C In-Dash Navigation Unit Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing ~58% of total materials cost

CD/DVD Drive - Slot Load, Internal (Qty: 1)

Chimei Innolux - AT070TN90 - Display Module - 7' Diagonal, 16.7M Color a-Si TFT, TN Mode, 800 x 480 Pixels, w/ Integral Flex PCB, 24 Backlight LEDs (Qty: 1)

Parrot - CK5050New - Bluetooth Media Connectivity Module Value Line Item - Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, Audio Streaming, DSP for Echo Cancellation & Noise Reduction, Contains Parrot Parrot5+ ASIC & Infineon PM8763A Single-Chip Bluetooth (Qty: 1)

Samsung Semiconductor - K4H511638F-LCCC - SDRAM - DDR-400, 512Mb (Qty: 4)

Touchscreen Overlay - 7', 4-Wire Resistive, ITO Film over Glass, w/ Integral Flex PCB (Qty: 1)

CSR - SiRFprima-TT442 - GPS / Graphics Processor - SiRFprima, ARM11 Core, GPS & Galileo Location Engine, Hardware 2D/3D Engine, Integrated Touchscreen Controller, 65nm Process (Qty: 1)

Zoran - ZR36966ELCG - DVD Processor - SoC, Full Front End Disc Controllers, Decoding & Post Processing (Qty: 1)

ST Microelectronics - TDA7560 - Audio Power Amplifier - Class AB, 4 x 50W, Quad Bridge, for Car Radio (Qty: 1)

Intersil - TW8816-LA3-GRS - LCD Controller - Integrated 2D Video Decoder, 2D De-Interlacer/Scale, 8-Bit 8051 MCU, CCFL Controller (Qty: 1)

4-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free (Qty: 1)

Total BOM & Manufacturing Costs (Direct Materials + Conversion Costs) $197.45

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

OEM/ODM/EMS Relationships / Manufacturing

Clarion is a Japanese-based electronics supplier to both the OEM automotive, Aftermarket automotive, and other industries. Their main business is within audio, speakers, amplification, radios, head units, navigation, and infotainment. Their business has in the past been very significant with a HDD-based navigation system for Ford, but now has been retained for the CD audio head unit only. Clarion has most of its international automotive business within Nissan and Ford, but also has business in smaller automakers as well.

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Though there was no clear label or callout specifically saying the unit was manufactured in China, based on other Clarion units we have torn down, as well as different markings throughout this unit, we are assuming, for the purposes of this analysis, that this Clarion unit was manufactured 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 a display module), 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

Head end units tend to be one of the types of equipment that we analyze that always have an above average complexity and high component counts. This is because of the 'modular' design nature of such systems that I think is inherent to automotive designs. Furthermore, head units such as this Clarion NX501C have a lot of features going, and features add to any component count. Aftermarket units are generally, however, not quite as complex as the typical OEM head units - which we have seen go up to nearly 6000 components, and that not including touchscree, display module, or optical drive sub components. This unit comes in at 2067 components. Much of the potential complexity in head-end units is, as is the case with laptop computers or smartphones, feature-related. More features (like 3G connectivity or an integrated SDARS module) equals more complexity. This unit's complexity is a reflection of the feature set and appears 'inline' with similar designs.

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.

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.

Design Notes

The core of the design splits into a few sub-assemblies:

GPS/Processing PCB

Main PCB

Display/Touchscreen Module

Optical Drive

Bluetooth Media Connecitvity Module

Display Area PCB

Tuner PCB

Miscellaneous PCB

Here is a short list of major noteworthy components from each of the major sub-assemblies in the design of the Clarion NX501C:

GPS/Processing PCB

CSR - SiRFprima-TT442 - GPS / Graphics Processor - SiRFprima, ARM11 Core, GPS & Galileo Location Engine, Hardware 2D/3D Engine, Integrated Touchscreen Controller, 65nm Process

(4x) Samsung Semiconductor - K4H511638F-LCCC - SDRAM - DDR-400, 512Mb

Intersil - TW8816-LA3-GRS - LCD Controller - Integrated 2D Video Decoder, 2D De-Interlacer/Scale, 8-Bit 8051 MCU, CCFL Controller

Samsung Semiconductor - K9F2G08U0B-PCB0 - Flash - NAND, SLC, 2Gb

Main PCB

Zoran - ZR36966ELCG - DVD Processor - SoC, Full Front End Disc Controllers, Decoding & Post Processing

ST Microelectronics - TDA7560 - Audio Power Amplifier - Class AB, 4 x 50W, Quad Bridge, for Car Radio

JRC - NJM2792V - Amplifier - Quad, Boost, Peak-to-Peak Output

JRC - NJW1222V - Electronic Volume Controller - 4.1-Channel, 6-Input Stereo Selector & 3-Band Graphic Equalizer, I2C Interface

ST Microelectronics - STM8AF51AATC - MCU - 8-bit, 128KB Flash, 6KB RAM, 2KB EEPROM, 10-bit x 16-Ch ADC, 68 I/Os, CAN/LIN/SPI/I2C Interface, 24MHz

Wolfson Micro - WM8522GEDS - DAC - 6-Channel, 24-Bit, 192KHz, w/ 1.7Vrms Line Driver & Volume Control, SPI Interface

Display/Touchscreen Module

Chimei Innolux - AT070TN90 - Display Module - 7' Diagonal, 16.7M Color a-Si TFT, TN Mode, 800 x 480 Pixels, w/ Integral Flex PCB, 24 Backlight LEDs

Touchscreen Overlay - 7', 4-Wire Resistive, ITO Film over Glass, w/ Integral Flex PCB

Optical Drive

CD/DVD Drive - Slot Load, Internal - Manufacturer and part number unknown - THIS IS NOT A STANDALONE DRIVE - NO ELECTRONICS ON BOARD - ALL SUPPORTING CIRCUITRY ON MAIN PCB (ZORAN, ETC.).

Bluetooth Media Connectivity Module

Parrot - CK5050New - Bluetooth Media Connectivity Module Value Line Item - Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, Audio Streaming, DSP for Echo Cancellation & Noise Reduction, Contains Parrot Parrot5+ ASIC & Infineon PM8763A Single-Chip Bluetooth

Features:

o Parrot - Parrot 5+ - Bluetooth Handsfree ASIC - Parrot5+ Interface IC, 0.13um CMOS with ~200kb SRAM

o Wolfson Micro - WM8758CBGEFL - Audio Codec - Stereo, 40mW Per Channel, 5-Band Equaliser, w/ Headphone Driver and Line Out

o Infineon - PM8763A - Bluetooth - Single-Chip, V2.1+EDR, ARM7 TDMI-STM Core, 0.13um

Display Area PCB

This is mostly an interconnect and power management board for the display. The main components are all power related (DC-DC converters, LDOs, etc.).

Tuner PCB

NXP - TEF6606T - Radio Tuner - ?AM/FM, I2C Bus Interface, w/ PLL Tuning System

Miscellaneous PCB

These are very PCBs such as the left and right control button PCBs, an SD Card PCB, and IR receiver PCB (for the remote control).

Clarion NX501C In-Dash Navigation Unit - Main PCB Bottom