Qualcomm grabs four sockets in HP TouchPad

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Teardowns of the Hewlett-Packard TouchPad show Cypress, LG, Qualcomm, SanDisk and Samsung share bragging rights for major design wins in HP's first tablet to use the WebOS it acquired with Palm.

Qualcomm grabbed four sockets in the TouchPad. HP designed in Qualcomm's 1.2 GHz APQ8060 dual-core processor, two power management ICs and the AR6003X Wi-Fi controller from its recently acquired Atheros division, according to a teardown by UBM TechInsights. The company also provided two images of boards inside the TouchPad.

The 32 GBbyte version of the tablet, priced at $599, carries a $318 bill of materials cost, according to a teardown by IHS iSuppli. The 16 Gbyte version, priced at $499, has a BoM of $296, IHS iSuppli estimated.

HP used the same display as the original Apple iPad, the LT097XL01 from LG Display Co. Ltd. Priced at $69, the 9.7-inch, 1,024 x 768 pixel display is the tablet's most expensive component, IHS said. A capacitive, glass-on-glass touch screen assembly is the next most costly subsystem at $63.50, supplied by either Wintek Corp. or TPK Holding Co. Ltd. of Taiwan, the report said.

IHS faulted the TouchPad for being significantly thicker (13.7 millimeters) than the iPad 2 (8.8 millimeters), and for not offering an option supporting 3G cellular links. However, it noted its WebOS and use of built-in inductive wireless charging provides significant differentiation for the product among a growing set of mainly Android-based competitors.

UBM TechInsights analysts who have already done teardowns of the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab and have one in the works for the Research in Motion Playbook characterized the tablet market as saturated. Despite the growing set of players, Apple is still getting the brunt of tablet sales with its iPad, it noted.

As for its mechanical design, "in contrast to the iPad 2’s aluminum shell, the TouchPad’s enclosure is plastic, which means it is less rigid, and also requires the use of an additional internal frame for mounting internal components," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, teardown services, for IHS, speaking in a press statement.

"This significantly adds to the overall size of the tablet in terms of thickness and around the edges," Rassweiler said. "On the other hand, the thicker design means the TouchPad doesn’t have to resort to the kind of exotic packaging, components and printed circuit board layouts seen in the iPads, helping to simplify the design process, and giving HP more design options," he added.

SanDisk got design wins for about $45 worth of its iNAND flash chips in the TouchPad, IHS said. Samsung sold 8 Gbits of its mobile DDR2 SDRAM—twice the typical amount--into the tablet for about $26, the company estimated.

"We expect 8 Gbits of DRAM to become the new standard for tablets, as memory pricing continues to erode on a cost per byte basis," said Rassweiler.

Among other major design wins, Cypress supplied six touch-screen controllers to the tablet, costing an estimated $11.75.

UBM TechInsights provided the following list of major components in the TouchPad: