ISuppli: Palm's Pre Uses Some Surprising Components, Designs

   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; [e-mail]