supply

PC shipments rise nearly 23 percent

Hot demand in Asian markets helped first-quarter PC shipments around the world jump 22.7 percent over the same period last year, the highest annual surge recorded by iSuppli since it began tracking the market in 2003.

The industry shipped 81.5 million PCs during the quarter, compared with 66.5 million in the prior year's quarter. Releasing the numbers on Friday, iSuppli pegged the surge in growth on strong sales as well as weak conditions at the outset of 2009.

"Early 2009 represented one of the weakest periods in the history of the PC market, as consumer … Read more

Troubleshooting random Mac shutoffs

Every now and then we hear about people who are having power problems with their Macs. The system either will not turn on, or more often will suddenly power off. At times this has happened to batches of Macs, but mostly it is a sporadic occurrence. There can be several reasons why Macs will suddenly power off.… Read more

iPad guts approach to PC design, says iSuppli

The Apple iPad and like devices will have far-reaching consequences for computer design and manufacturing, according to market researcher iSuppli.

It all starts with a fundamental change in how the device is put together. The iPad does not follow conventional PC design because the user interface is the starting point, said Derek Lidow, chief executive at iSuppli, in a research note released on Thursday. "Apple started by designing the screen, the touch pad and the battery," he wrote. Less focus was placed on chips and where they should be designed into the system. "This design is what … Read more

iSuppli: iPad costs something like $260 to build

The traditional iSuppli component breakdowns that attempt to put a neat little number on what a product actually costs to build appeal to a primal part of us, the part of us that wants to know, "Did I get screwed?"

"How much is a company making off of me? Was I a sucker?" It's a clever gambit. Because everybody wants to know. You can't help it.

It's a tricky thing, though, to finger how many dollars were poured into, for instance, each and every iPad out there. Even if you don't want … Read more

iPad sales could pass 7 million units this year

Speculation has run rampant as to how many people will grab an iPad following its launch Saturday. But at least one market researcher is predicting huge sales for the tablet this year and beyond.

Worldwide sales of Apple's new device are expected to reach 7.1 million units this year, according to a preliminary forecast released Friday by iSuppli. Sales will double to 14.4 million units next year and triple to 20.1 million in 2012, the research firm predicts.

Though the iPad initially generated a fair amount of negative reaction, several recent reviews in the press have been much more favorable. The tablet's design, applications, and multitouch interface will compensate for any perceived limitations and will lead to huge demand by early adopters this year, iSuppli predicts.

Growth will continue to soar in 2011 and 2012 as more iPad apps hit the market, and as Apple improves the tablet's functionality and lowers its price, said iSuppli. In fact, the company believes its sales forecast could prove conservative if Apple enhances certain features sooner than expected and reconsiders its lack of support for Flash.

"2010 sales could potentially climb much higher than the 7 million figure, and that first year success--combined with expected ongoing innovation--will help to keep Apple at the forefront of the tablet market for several years," Rhoda Alexander, iSuppli's director of monitor research, said in a statement. "Key to continuing success will be how quickly Apple responds to issues as they arise and whether the company can align suppliers to meet demand needs."… Read more

Chip spending could reach double-digit growth this year

Following a weak market in 2009, the semiconductor industry will be the beneficiary of double-digit spending gains this year, says new research unveiled Thursday by iSuppli.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to boost their chip spending 13 percent to $177.9 billion in 2010, while electronic manufacturing service (EMS) providers will spend $37.7 billion this year, a gain of 15.1 percent from 2009.

Among OEMs, Hewlett-Packard will be the top spender on semiconductors this year, says iSuppli, paying around $12.6 billion for its stock of chips. In second place will be Samsung Electronics, spending $12.5 … Read more

CNET TV Apple Byte: MacWorld 2010

Brian Tong discusses the latest news in the world of Apple. This week, iSuppli has a cost estimate of the iPad, Hulu may soon be available on the iPhone OS, and Brian takes a tour of the MacWorld show floor.

Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums. Do you have questions, issues, or stories you would like to see on MacFixIt? Email Us.

Cost to build iPad: iSuppli says as little as $229.35

iSuppli, the outfit that makes it a habit of tearing down products as soon as they're released and splaying out their components for all to see, has already done an analysis of what it will cost Apple to build the $500 base model iPad. Not surprisingly, the number comes in at a good 50 percent less than the sales price--and it gets even better (for Apple anyway) as you move to the 32GB and 64GB models and add the 3G wireless component.

Remember, of course, this is only an estimate of hardware and manufacturing costs and doesn't factor … Read more

Apple iPad profit model gets a 'teardown'

Like the iPhone, Apple stands to make a greater profit on the iPad when consumers choose models with more memory, according to an estimate released by iSuppli on Wednesday.

The $729 version of Apple's iPad is estimated to carry a bill of materials (BOM) and manufacturing cost of $287.15, making it the most profitable iPad model, according to iSuppli. The iPad is expected to go on sale as early as next month.

The firm did not have an iPad in hand when doing its analysis but based the virtual teardown on an in-house cost model that includes commodity components that are used across many devices.

Though the estimate does not account for non-hardware costs, as the price of different models increases, other costs will stay the same, according to Francis Sideco, an analyst at iSuppli. "Regardless of the configuration, software and licensing is going to stay the same. The only thing that's going to change are the hardware costs and primarily the memory," Sideco said in an interview.

That memory-based pricing scheme has become standard practice for Apple when pricing its iPhone and iPod, for example. For the iPad, the 32GB model will be the most profitable, costing only $29.50 more to produce than the 16GB versions, but the retail price gap is $100, iSuppli said. After the display, the NAND flash memory is expected to be the most expensive item. In the mid-range 3G model, the 32GB of NAND accounts for 21.4 percent of the total BOM, iSuppli said. … Read more