As per IHS iSuppli, the tear down analysis of Nintendo's
3DS handheld gaming system carries a bill of materials (BOM)
of $100.71.
The teardown analysis points and comments shared by IHS
iSuppli are:
When the $2.54 manufacturing cost of the 3DS is added in,
the total cost to produce the portable gaming system rises
to $103.25. This compares to a retail cost of $249.99 in
the United States.
The $100.71 BOM represents a 33 percent increase from $75.58
in materials for the previous member of Nintendo's handheld
gaming line, the Nintendo DSi, based on pricing from the
time of its introduction a little more than two years ago
says IHS iSuppli.
As with most products made by Japanese companies, the 3DS
largely uses components from suppliers based in Japan. Because
of this, the 3DS has much greater exposure than most electronic
products to the supply chain risk presented by the recent
earthquake and tsunami. Although IHS cannot identify any
specific supply problems for 3DS components, the same logistical
and power challenges plaguing most Japanese industries could
impact production and distribution of this game system.
This 3-D display is from Sharp Corp. and measures 3.5-inches
in size with a total 800 by 240 pixel format or a pixel
format of 400 by 240 per eye. It uses an integrated LCD
based parallax barrier panel sandwiched to the back of the
color LCD, which rapidly alternates between left and right
images.
"The 3DS's most distinguishing feature is its 3-D top
screen, which uses a clever feat of engineering to achieve
the illusion of depth," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior
director, teardown services for IHS. "When the display
module is removed from the 3DS enclosure, it looks like
a slightly thicker conventional thin film transistor liquid
crystal display (TFT LCD). However, upon opening up the
device, we observed that on one side of the glass is a conventional
color TFT element, while the other side was a monochrome
LCD element. The monochrome LCD parallax barrier in the
back acts as a gate that allows light to either pass through
certain areas of the screen or not. Switching this gate
in the right patterns at high frequency helps create the
illusion of 3-D depth."
At $33.80, the main 3-D as well as the secondary display
also from Sharp together with the touch screen, represent
the most expensive group of component costs in the 3DS,
accounting for roughly 34 percent of the total cost of materials.
The 3DS display also has the biggest cost differential of
any major subsystem of the new gaming system compared to
the DSi, coming in at $11.85 more than the DSi display.
Another significant subsystem in the 3DS is the applications
processing chip. At approximately $10, the apps processor
accounts for roughly 10 percent of the 3DS's total BOM,
and is 15 percent more expensive than the equivalent DSi
semiconductor around its time of release. At the present
time, the old Sharp processor likely would cost less than
$7 per unit.
As in the DSi, IHS believes the apps processor in the 3DS
is manufactured by Sharp and is labeled as being produced
in Japan. The Sharp assumption comes from the similarity
in markings on the silicon die inside the chip, resembling
those from the Nintendo DSi. Similar pattern matching on
die markings is commonly used to determine chip provenance.
It is also likely this apps processor was custom designed
for Nintendo by another chip intellectual property and design
company. An analysis of this apps processor suggests it
delivers significantly higher performance than the apps
processor in the DSi.
Memories of Nintendo: The 3DS's memory subsystem comes in
at 8.36, or 8.3 percent of the total BOM. The cost is more
than double that found in the Nintendo DSi at the time of
its release.
The main reason for the increased cost is that the NAND
flash memory content of the 3DS has increased by eight times
to 16Gbits (2GBytes), up from 2Gbits (256Mbytes) in the
DSi. The NAND flash memory found in the 3DS torn down by
IHS is from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and is an embedded
multimedia card (eMMC) device, which enables easier implementation
and shorter design cycles than conventional flash. Such
memory is usually available from multiple sources.
More interestingly and potentially problematic is the multi-chip
memory IC from Fujitsu employed in the 3DS that includes
512Mbits of fast cycle random access memory (FCRAM), which
appears to be a proprietary technology of Japan's Fujitsu.
"As a rule, most electronic system designers employ
memory products that are available from multiple sources
in order to reduce supply risk and to guarantee the best
pricing," Rassweiler noted. "However, Nintendo's
decision to buy the device from sole-source Fujitsu adds
supply chain risk, and limits Nintendo's capability to drive
costs down on a major component."
User Interface Adds MEMS: At $6.81, or 6.8 percent of the
total BOM, the user interface subsystem of the 3DS is significantly
more expensive that of the DSi, with a 71.1 percent premium.
The 3DS subsystem adds a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)
gyroscope from InvenSense, as well as an accelerometer manufactured
by STMicroelectronics, which allows the game system to operate
using motion-sensitive control. These devices, plus a more
expensive audio codec, were the main sources of additional
costs in this functional section of the 3DS.
The wireless local area network (WLAN) subsystem of the
3DS carries a cost $5.00, accounting for 5 percent of the
BOM. The WLAN module features a single-chip solution: the
Atheros AR6014G-AL1C 802.11b/g device. This represents major
design progress for Nintendo, which used a dual-chip approach
for the DSi, years after most other designs had adopted
more efficient singe-chip solutions.
Three Cameras Deliver 3-D Photography: A major attraction
of the 3DS is its use of a camera subsystem that allows
users to take 3-D photographs. This stereo vision system
employs two parallel VGA cameras in a module, plus a third
VGA camera. VGA camera modules are some of the least expensive
of their kind now made, so Nintendo was able, with some
price erosion over the years, to add a third module, while
keeping the costs very similar to the two cameras implemented
in the Nintendo DSi.
The camera subsystem costs $4.70, or 4.7 percent of the
BOM, and up a scant $0.20 from the DSi.
Battery Subsystem Takes a Page from Apple's book: The battery
subsystem of the 3DS costs $3.50, more than twice as expensive
as that of the DSi, at $1.70. It accounts for 3.5 percent
of the BOM. The battery's cost premium is because of its
increased capacity.
"Because the 3DS has bigger, more sophisticated displays
and a higher-performance apps processor than the Dsi as
well as new added features such as a gyroscope and accelerometer
it makes sense the battery would have higher capacity,"
Rassweiler said.
The original DSi battery was a mere 840 milliampere-hour
(mAh) model, while the device in the 3DS is labeled a 1300mAh
device. However, the underlying battery cell, which IHS
believes comes from Samsung SDI, appears to be rated even
higher at 1470mAh. Between the beefier battery and a more
robust set of chips to manage power in the 3DS, it appears
Nintendo has taken a multi-faceted approach to improving
battery life for consumers.
"It's worth noting that Apple always spends a significant
amount of money on power management circuitry and high-quality
custom battery packs in order to differentiate its products
in the key area of battery lifetime. With the 3DS, it appears
that Nintendo has taken a page from Apple's lesson book,"
Rassweiler also noted.
