Chinese optical parts used in Galaxy flagship smartphones for the first time

Even though China is the manufacturing powerhouse of the world, most Chinese companies don’t enjoy a reputation for quality. Chinese firms and products are usually associated with low-cost products that may or may not last too long. However, there has been a gradual improvement in the quality of products coming out from Chinese companies.

Growing competitive edge of the Chinese suppliers

As another example of changing fortunes and perception about Chinese part suppliers, a report in ET News states that Samsung reportedly used Chinese optical parts in its flagship smartphones for the first time. Samsung apparently sourced lenses from Sunny Optical in China for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. If true, this is an impressive achievement by a Chinese component supplier as making quality optical parts is deemed to be technically quite challenging compared to other smartphone parts.

The news report quotes an industry representative as saying the “Galaxy S9 uses Sunny Optical’s lenses for its front camera module. Although Sunny’s products have been used for low and medium-priced Smartphones, this is the first time they are used for flagship models.”

Sunny Optical, which makes lenses, camera modules, microscopes, and measuring equipment, is the biggest Chinese optical part manufacturer and already supplies to major Chinese smartphone manufacturers. So far, Samsung has been sourcing lenses from South Korean suppliers such as Kolen, Sekonix, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics for its flagship Galaxy devices. Samsung opting for a Chinese supplier for optical parts for its top-tier smartphones shows its increased confidence in the capabilities of Chinese part suppliers like Sunny Optical.

South Korean component suppliers were relying on quality to compete with the low-cost offerings from China so far. Now with the Chinese firms catching up on quality, it is bound to put more pressure on the South Korean part manufacturers.

The post Chinese optical parts used in Galaxy flagship smartphones for the first time appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2FR7cbx
via IFTTT

Galaxy S9+ is reportedly more expensive to make than the Galaxy Note 8

Calculating how much it costs precisely to make a smartphone is a tricky affair for third parties as companies don’t openly divulge component costs. Market analysts often rely on estimates from different sources to calculate the cost of popular smartphone models.

Techinsights has compiled a cost analysis of popular smartphone models in the market. While the cost comparison is based on estimates that may or may not be completely correct, it still represents the best guesswork we have on this topic. The analysis took into consideration various component prices to arrive at the manufacturing cost of the popular smartphones. The costs mentioned in the analysis is respective to the date of the teardown and have not been adjusted to reflect the current costs of the components.

The iPhone X tops the chart

According to the analysis, the Galaxy S9+ is more expensive to make than the Galaxy Note 8 even though the latter was priced higher than the Galaxy S9+ at launch. The report states it costs $379 to make the Galaxy S9+ compared to the Note 8’s $369. The iPhone X tops the chart at $389.5 while the iPhone 8+ costs $324.5 – the lowest among the group.

Samsung makes most of the components used in its smartphones, and so it pays some of these component costs to other divisions within the Samsung group. Apple, on the other hand, procurers many of its iPhone components from other suppliers, including Samsung.

Furthermore, the actual cost of the device to the companies is more than the sum of the price of the components as the final device cost involves other substantial costs such as R&D, marketing expenses, software development costs, distribution costs, etc.

Image Credit: Tech Insights

The post Galaxy S9+ is reportedly more expensive to make than the Galaxy Note 8 appeared first on SamMobile.

from SamMobile http://ift.tt/2Dzk1oX
via IFTTT