DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), Sony Corp.
(SNE) and Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHY) are the main suppliers of
parts for Palm Inc.'s (PALM) new Pre, according to a breakdown by
iSuppli Corp.
"With the Pre, Palm has made some surprising choices not only in
the phone's features, but also in its design and component
selection," said Andrew Rassweiler of iSuppli.
Among those surprising choices is the Pre's use of two gigabits
of SDRAM, double what is in Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone and most
other smartphones.
The larger amount of memory "likely is needed as a buffer to
support the Pre's capability to multitask various applications,"
iSuppli said.
Also, the Pre doesn't use Qualcomm's PM6650 chip, which performs
the power-management function in almost all Qualcomm-based designs.
Rather, the Pre uses Maxim Integrated Products Inc.'s (MXIM)
MAX8695 power-management integrated circuit, which also is in the
LG Voyager VX10000.
In addition, the Pre employs eight gigabytes of Samsung's eMMC
MoviNAND flash memory, rather than regular Multi-Level Cell NAND
commonly found in mobile phones. EMMC is a premium variety of NAND
flash memory that combines high-density MLC NAND flash with a
memory management controller to deliver higher performance and
easier integration into electronic designs, iSuppli said.
The largest cost driver in the Pre is Sony's advanced
Low-Temperature Polysilicon LCD display, which with Pre's touch
screen module, costs $39.50.
The Pre, which Palm began selling Saturday, costs just under
$200, though at most stores, that price is only after a $100
mail-in rebate from Sprint Nextel Corp. (S).
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975;
Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com