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iPhone Revitalizes Integration
July 6, 2007 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
CUPERTINO, Calif. Acting as a consumer electronics mascot for silicon-, package-, and system-level integration, Apple's iPhone, released late in June, also integrates more functions than most current-generation consumer devices. The portable-media player and cell phone also enables web access, e-mail, GPS navigation, digital photographs and a host of other functions that consumers are beginning to expect from cellular devices.
Slim, low-profile, and advanced components enable the device to be handheld and ergonomic. Drop-and-shock testing is critical for the devices, which require SMT assembly to maintain a low profile, lead-free interconnects for global product distribution, and high reliability to justify the higher-than-average consumer device cost and allow Apple to profit from the mass rollout without rework-and-repair costs overriding initial profit. Apple is forecast to accrue about 55% profit per retail sale, according to analyst firm iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.) Shipments of the computer/cell phone/media player could hit 4.5 million units over the second half of 2007, expanding by a factor of nearly seven to reach more than 30 million by 2011, according to Tina Teng, analyst, wireless communications, iSuppli.
Integrating larger, advanced multi-chip and stacked-die packages enables higher functionality within the same form factor, eliminating and embedding passives and discretes that normally would occupy PCB space. Apple's debut of a touch-screen user interface requires IC drivers for graphics and improved processing with more visual content, such as web browsing, video playback, and the phone's graphic interface. iSuppli notes that Samsung (Seoul, South Korea) supplies the iPhone's applications processor, which includes an ARM RISC core, as well as large amounts of flash and DRAM memory. The phone reflects Apple's global supply chain; several other component suppliers are European, including Infineon of Germany, or based in the U.S., such as National Semiconductor, reports iSuppli. While the iPhone and related products may have taken several years to complete, they represent a continuation of Moore's Law holistically integrating technologies to compress more functionality, power, and connectivity into an established, iconic form factor.