| DEC 21,2001
Portelligent Completes Manufacturing Cost Analyses of 3G Cell Phone and New Game Machines
AUSTIN, Texas--Dec. 21, 2001--As part of its product teardown series in consumer electronics, Portelligent, Inc., of Austin, Texas, has completed a detailed disassembly and manufacturing cost analyses of a newly released third-generation (3G) cell phone from Japan, as well as the Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft X-Box game machines.
The P2101V, manufactured for NTT DoCoMo, includes an embedded video camera, enabling video conferencing for mobile users, with bandwidth of up to 384 Kbps on the downlink. According to David Carey, Portelligent President and CEO, "This handset is the first commercial example of 3G cell phones anywhere, and as such, provides important indicators of the next round of competition in wireless communications. Examining the P2101V, we were surprised to find that while the W-CDMA radio design has taken full advantage of recent trends in component integration, the baseband, imaging, and processor requirements have led to a fivefold increase in total handset silicon area versus other recent cellphones analyzed."
The introduction of the Nintendo GameCube – brought to market in Japan in October 2001 – and the Microsoft X-Box, which appeared in the U.S. on November 15, usher in a new era of competition that will impact the game-machine marketplace, and potentially home computing and residential broadband services. Chris Windsor, Director of Databases and Analysis for Portelligent, explains, "In these gaming machines we note significant divergence in hardware strategy, with the GameCube component set and OEM cost reflecting a focussed pure-play game machine. Conversely the Xbox, with its DVD, hard-disk drive, and more general PC capabilities, provides greater platform flexibility - at the expense of greater cost-of-goods sold, and higher loss per unit at retail."
All three product analyses are available now as individual reports or as part of broader subscription services.
About Portelligent: Portelligent, offers teardown analyses of electronic products in four Channels: cellular phones and wireless terminals, PDAs and personal appliances, digital cameras and imaging, and wireless home and mobile computing. Portelligent has also developed a database that compiles key metrics for over 130 products analyzed in the past five years. The Portelligent TechAlert newsfeed provides tracking of developments in key enabling technologies for consumer electronics, with emphasis on recent trends in Japan and Asia.
CONTACT: Portelligent Inc., Austin. Don Stroud, 512/338-3600 dstroud@portelligent.com.
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