The Sum of the Samsung Galaxy S5's Parts Revealed In IHS Teardown

The whole is more than the sum of its parts. That's usually the case in just about anything, where it's not only the value of what goes into something's construction, but the value derived from its use that needs to be considered. But preliminary estimates released by IHS Technology's Teardown Mobile Handsets Intelligence Service, meanwhile, suggests that the Samsung Galaxy S5 has quite a bit going into the sum of its parts already.

The IHS Technology study reveals that just the bill of materials (BOM) for the Samsung Galaxy S5 alone—with the 32 gigabytes of NAND flash memory—comes to $251.52, and that's before a typical $5 assembly cost is added. By way of comparison, the iPhone 5S with the same amount of memory was estimated at $207 just from September. The number compares even more markedly against lower-end Android devices like the ZTE U793 and the K-Touch T619+. Both devices have BOM numbers that turn out under $35.

This seems to be something of a trend on Samsung's part, as four separate Galaxy devices in the last year that got IHS teardowns have been over $200 in just BOM, with the lowest spotted price at $237 and the high-water mark at $280. One of the big things driving the higher BOM is that Samsung has been sticking to a fairly close model of its previous releases. Looking at the commonalities among devices like the Note III and the Galaxy Round suggests quite a bit to link the devices together, but the Galaxy S5 does have what IHS' senior director of cost benchmarking services for IHS describes as “...many small changes throughout the design.”

For instance, the Galaxy S5 uses the Qualcomm WTR1625 radio frequency (RF) transmitter, where previous models turned to the WTR1605L instead. Plus, the Galaxy SF turns to a new breed of near-field communications (NFC) controller that's different from the versions seen in several previous Samsung devices. There are similar small changes to be seen in the noise suppression mechanisms, the power management systems, a new Wi-Fi module and even the processor. So while the changes between the Galaxy S5 and its predecessors aren't exactly pronounced, there are a sufficient number of small changes to make the Galaxy S5 much different from its predecessors, even if it doesn't specifically look that way.

That actually brings up a novel point. Recently, there's been some concern over Samsung's innovation ability in the field, and how the smartphone itself might be, increasingly, more of a commodity than anything else. But that may not be such a problem in this case, however, as we're seeing here. The Galaxy S5 looks a lot like its predecessors, but we're seeing so many little changes that it's hard to even call the devices similar. Granted, innovation won't come quite so quickly for some time to come, but there's still innovation to be had on the interior of the device if not necessarily the exterior.

Admittedly, this is splitting hairs a bit as far as “innovation” goes, but it's still something to be said not only for Samsung but for the industry as a whole. This could be the start of where we start looking for innovation, not in the device's looks or controls, but rather in its internal mechanisms and how it uses what's already there. Still, with Samsung devices getting pricier to make at the high end, it's enough to wonder how long it can compete against Apple.