Now that the holiday season is upon us, Manufacturing Digital is revisiting some of 2011's most popular stories. So sit back and enjoy reading the past year's biggest news.
Having been the most talked about consumer electronics release of the year, the Apple iPad 2 was finally released in the United States in March ending months of anticipation. Even though the technical specification and quality of materials has vastly improved, Apple sold the iPad 2 at the same price as its predecessor. Manufacturing Digital looks to see if the manufacturing process has changed and whether there is any difference in production costs.
PRICE BREAKDOWN
32GB GSM/HSPA Version (From iSuppli)
- Display/Touch Screen - $127.00
- Memory - $65.70
- Battery - $25.00
- Apps Processor - $14.00
- Box Contents - $5.80
- Cameras - $4.30
- Other Materials - $84.20
- Manufacturing Cost - $10
- Total - $336 (Original iPad $320
TECHNOLOGY
The display and touch screen cost for the iPad 2 is 33 percent ($32) higher than the original iPad ($95) according to iSuppli estimates. Production yields were low throughout 2010 and drove prices to be higher than Apple anticipated. Improvements to the touch screen including more expensive glue to improve bonding, Gorilla cover glass and a more detailed inspection process has increased costs.
As Apple developed the A5 processor itself, it can contract production to external manufacturers giving them a huge financial advantage. However, at $14 the A5 processor costs 75 percent more than the current A4 chip. Although as production increases, costs will eventually go down.
DESIGN
In terms of iPad 2 design, nothing much has changed. Although this new device is thinner and lighter, both the original iPad and the iPad 2 use the same components and suppliers for the NAND flash, the multi-touch controllers and touch screen drivers, as well as the same core chip in the wireless section found in the iPhone 4. Several other components in the iPad 2 like the apps processor and the Bluetooth, frequency, GPS and wireless local area network chips have been modified and upgraded, but they still come from the same suppliers.
While the iPad 2 battery is $4 more expensive than the previous cell, it is much thinner in order to accommodate the new slimmer design. Special battery management circuitry made just for Apple products provides exceptional results and maximum useage time.
