IHS

Eight 'IHS' stories May 2011 - June 2015

Latest Slice estimates put U.S. Apple Watch sales at 2.8M as IHS analysis says $49 band costs Apple $2

Ben Lovejoy Jun 18 2015 - 4:32 am PT

Slice Intelligence, which tracks online orders by scanning the email inboxes of more than 2M panel members, estimates that Apple has sold 2.79M Apple Watches in the USA, reports Reuters. The estimate does not include sales in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong or Japan.

Slice last month reported that around 1.5M U.S. orders were placed on the first day of pre-orders, with sales tailing off rapidly after this. KGI is estimating worldwide sales of 5-6M Watches in Q3, 20-30% down on earlier estimates.

Sales are likely to be boosted by the availability of in-store pickup as of this week, with global sales set to grow significantly following a launch in a second wave of countries later this month. Apple has not released any numbers, simply saying that it was “thrilled” by the popularity of the Watch …
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Component & manufacturing cost of 38mm Apple Watch Sport is less than $84 – IHS teardown analysis

Ben Lovejoy May 1 2015 - 4:38 am PT

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The Apple Watch wasn’t long out before iFixit did its usual teardown. Research firm IHS always takes longer, as it seeks to identify the components and find out what they cost. The result, it says, is that the component cost of the 38mm Apple Watch Sport – the cheapest model – totals $81.20, with manufacturing costs taking the total cost-price to $83.70.

Tim Cook made a pointed reference to this type of cost estimate during last week’s earnings call, saying that “I’ve never seen one that is anywhere close to being accurate” – though he was likely making a broader point …
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The cost difference to Apple between the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus: $15.50

Ben Lovejoy Sep 24 2014 - 4:02 am PT

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Apple may be struggling to meet demand for the iPhone 6 Plus, but the effort will be worthwhile according to some number-crunching by IHS cited by Bloomberg: it makes an extra $84.50 in profit on the larger model.

It costs an additional $15.50 to make the larger iPhones, according to a breakdown by researchers at IHS, but the sticker price is $100 higher than the iPhone 6 […] The main difference in cost between the two phones comes from the supersize screen, which adds $7.50 to Apple’s production cost. The camera and battery subsystems also cost slightly more.

While everyone doing these analyses seems to come up with a different set of numbers (none of them having access to the actual deals negotiated by Apple so having to rely on a whole bunch of assumptions), everyone seems to agree that margins are significantly higher on the iPhone 6 Plus.

Samsung is said to be so worried by record sales of the new iPhones that it has brought forward the planned launch of the Galaxy Note 4 to September 26th, the same day Apple puts the iPhone 6/Plus on sale in 20 more countries.

Research firm IHS says Samsung supplying 40% of iPhone 6 A8 chips despite move to TSMC

Zac Hall Sep 23 2014 - 9:00 am PT

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A product teardown of both the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus devices last week confirmed earlier reports that Apple is indeed opting for TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) to produce the 20nm, second generation 64-bit A8 chip that drives the new iPhones. Research firm IHS, however, has shared a teardown analysis report with Re/code that claims Samsung is still responsible for a fraction of Apple’s A8 chips produced.

Rassweiler said the processor he saw during the teardown was manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the massive chip-factory-for-hire based in Taipei. […] Rassweiler says TSMC is manufacturing about 60 percent of the chips for Apple, while Samsung is still turning about about 40 percent.

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Apple to drop 17-inch MacBooks, slim down iPhone w/ in-cell?

Jordan Kahn Apr 23 2012 - 6:05 am PT

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You can read into these reports from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities as much as you want. Kuo claimed this morning that Apple is about to axe the 17-inch MacBook Pro line entirely while introducing a rumored all new MacBook design by Q3 2012 (via MacRumors). Kuo also alleged Apple will adopt in-cell display technology to help slim down the next-generation iPhone by up to 1.4mm to under 8mm. IHS told Wired earlier about the advantages of in-cell displays:

“The advantage of in-cell is that you’re streamlining the manufacturing process, so in time you should be able to drive efficiencies and reduce cost.” IHS analyst Rhoda Alexander told Wired. “Additionally, by reducing the number of layers, you reduce the size and thickness of the device, making it thinner and lighter.”

According to the report, Kuo said in-cell would provide a reduction of approximately 0.5mm, while other reductions could come from the battery and a thinner metal casing on the back.

Since Apple’s smartphone competitors have generally slimmed down their high-end offerings to 7-8mm, Apple needs to make a leap forward from 4S’ 9.3mm thickness. We believe Apple will aim at 8mm or below (at least 1.4mm slimmer) for iPhone 5, in a bid to ensure brisk sales through 2014, while peers will also continue to introduce increasingly slim models next year… As such, all iPhone 4S components that account for thickness must be slimmer, specifically, touch panel, battery and casing. Moreover, a marginal amount of space is required between the three parts for the sakes of assembly tolerance and thermal expansion of components.

Report: Apple building thinner and lighter Liquidmetal next-gen iPhone (9to5mac.com)

iSuppli: Teardown reveals 16GB iPhone 4S carries $188 BOM

Jordan Kahn Oct 20 2011 - 7:14 am PT

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As always, the guys over at IHS iSuppli have just published analysis of their iPhone 4S teardown showing a BOM of $188 for the 16GB and in the process revealing some previously undisclosed suppliers.

The $188 BOM is of course for the entry-level 16GB model, which would also inflate to $196 if factoring in an $8 manufacturing cost. BOM for the 32GB model comes in at $207 (again, before manufacturing), and $245 for the 64GB variant.

The report describes the 4S’s insides as including a “wealth of innovation”, in contrast to the device’s feature set which was received as an incremental upgrade by most. Among the suprises revealed during the teardown– NAND flash memory supplied by Hynix Semiconductor (a first for iPhone) and a “unique custom” wireless module from Avago Technologies Ltd. The device torn down by iSuppli carried the same sony Sensor as the device X-Rayed by Chipworks but they postulate that Omnivision may also provide an 8-megapixel sensor as well for some of the devices.

Senior director of teardown services for IHS, Andrew Rassweiler, explains:
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iSuppli speculates LTE costs and extra chipset will keep Apple away this year

Seth Weintraub Jul 9 2011 - 10:25 pm PT

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In a note last night, Wayne Lam of IHS-iSuppli made the case against Apple going with 1st generation LTE chips in its next iPhone.

“It remains to be seen whether the next Apple iPhone set for introduction in September will support 4G LTE,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for IHS. “However, if it does, two things are clear. First, the iPhone’s minuscule printed circuit board (PCB) will have to grow in size in order to support the first-generation LTE baseband processor as well as all the supporting chipset. Second, the next iPhone’s BOM value certainly will increase substantially compared to the iPhone 4 if LTE is implemented in the same manner as in the HTC Thunderbolt.”

I think Apple is more concerned with the extra space and battery life the new chips would consume much more than the extra cost of the components.“The first generation of LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises with the handset, and some of those we are just not willing to make,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple chief financial officer, speaking at the company’s April 2011 earnings call.

The next round of chips which would allow Apple to put LTE in a similarly sized package won’t hit the streets until the first half of 2012.

I don’t see an iPhone as big at the Thundebolt or Charge, ever.
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iSuppli: Foxconn explosion could cost Apple half a million iPads

Seth Weintraub May 23 2011 - 7:52 pm PT

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Besides the extremely unfortunate loss of life, Bloomberg posts a dire scenario on iPad production laid out by IHS iSuppli this evening:

The drop in manufacturing will depend on how long the plant is closed following a May 20 explosion that killed three people and injured at least 15, according to ISuppli. The total could be even greater if the suspension of operations at the facility lasts longer than a month, the firm said.

Another Foxconn factory in Shenzhen that produces iPads may not be able to make up for the lost output, ISuppli said. The manufacturing breakdown may lead Apple to miss ISuppli’s forecast of 7.4 million iPad 2 shipments in the quarter ending in June, the El Segundo, California-based research firm said.

Not all analysts are as down with Apple Bull Shaw Wu saying there may not be cause to worry. He said in a report today that the concerns are “overdone” and that production at other facilities is being ramped up to make up for the shortfalls. He expects Apple to sell 6.8 million iPads in the June quarter.

Foxconn closes all of its electronic parts polishing workshops for 2 days (9to5mac.com)
The Foxconn explosion might affect up to one third of total iPad 2 output (9to5mac.com)
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