In the wake of Apple’s iPad success, manufacturers have released a slew of other tablets. Yet these competitors haven’t matched Apple’s design efficiency, according to an IHS iSuppli teardown analysis of eight tablet models.  

“Since Apple controls both the operating system and hardware design of the iPad, it is able to attain design efficiencies that other tablet manufacturers cannot,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst, competitive analysis, at IHS.

“These efficiencies become obvious in areas like the memory and the battery, where Apple maintains advantages in cost, space savings, and performance compared with every competitor in the business,” Lam said. 

Other tablet makers use third-party operating systems (OSs) such as Google’s Android, which can be found in most competitive tablets. Many of these manufacturers also outsource the blueprints of their products to third parties, using reference designs and design services from contract manufacturers. Apple, however, uses its own OS and maintains tight control of its design, components, and contract manufacturers.

“Apple takes a vertically integrated approach to its products, from the operating system to the user interface to the hardware design, down to the selection of individual parts used in the device,” Lam said.

“For example, Apple even uses its own applications processor design in both the iPad and iPad 2. In contrast, Android tablet makers buy those capabilities from the likes of Nvidia, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm. This gives Apple greater control in multiple areas of product development,” he said.

By controlling the operating system, Apple can reduce costs by limiting the quantity of memory in the iPad. The iPad 2 has 512 Mbytes of SDRAM, while competitive designs have 1 Gbyte, leading to a $14 reduction in bill of materials cost compared to other tablets.

“The iPad’s efficient memory usage stems from the fundamental difference in the architecture of the operating system,” said Lam. “Apple’s iOS handles multitasking differently than other tablet operating systems, allowing it to reduce the amount of memory required to support the microprocessor.”

Apple’s tight management of its product design, software integration, and component selection also enable the iPad’s battery to be the thinnest of all competing tablet designs while still having the largest capacity.

Furthermore, Apple is driving the market price for competitive tablets. Its Wi-Fi version with 16 Gbytes of NAND memory costs $500. Samsung’s 16-Gbyte Galaxy Tab 10.1 reinforced this price point, and other tablets like RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook and HP’s TouchPad are gravitating toward that figure as well.

Apple’s 9.7-in. screen is a trendsetter as well, becoming the default standard in the market. While tablets like the PlayBook and the HTC Flyer have 7-in. screens, designs with 9.7-in. and 10.1-in. displays have been more plentiful.

Finally, multi-core processors represent another tablet trend. Since the Motorola Xoom’s debut in February and the iPad 2’s release in March, all new tablet designs have included dual-core processors that deliver higher computing and graphical performance. IHS expects this to continue with quad-core processors for even more enhanced performance.

The IHS teardown comparison included the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, the Motorola Xoom, the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad 2, RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook, the Asus Eee Pad, and HP’s TouchPad. 

IHS iSuppli
www.ihs.com