三星智能手機的祕密武器:自產元件

Samsung Electronics Co.'s ( SSNHY) latest smartphone, the Galaxy S 4, takes advantage of the South Korean electronics company's chip- and display-manufacturing prowess to get its material costs closer to Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) costs for the iPhone 5.

憑藉其製造芯片和顯示器的卓越能力，韓國三星電子(Samsung Electronics Co.)縮小了最新智能手機Galaxy S 4在材料成本方面與蘋果公司(Apple Inc.) iPhone 5的距離。

An analysis conducted by market-research firm IHS Inc. estimates Samsung's cost of materials and manufacturing to produce the U.S. version of the S 4 is slightly above $237 a unit, according to a report expected to be released on Thursday. That is higher than Apple's $217 production cost for a 32-gigabyte iPhone 5, which has a smaller and less-costly display screen.

一份預計於週四發佈的報告顯示，市場研究機構IHS Inc.的分析報告估計，三星生產一部美國版Galaxy S 4的材料和製造成本僅略高於237美元。蘋果生產一部32G版iPhone 5的生產費用爲217美元。相比Galaxy S 4，iPhone 5的顯示屏尺寸較小，成本也較低。

Without a two-year contract, the 16-gigabyte version of the Samsung phone sells for $639 at AT&T Inc. (T), and the iPhone 5 with 32 gigabytes costs $749 at an Apple store.

如沒有兩年套餐合約，這款三星智能手機的16G版在美國電話電報公司(AT&T Inc.)的售價爲639美元，32G版iPhone 5在蘋果專賣店的售價爲749美元。

Pricing for an unlocked 32-gigabte S 4 hasn't been released.

32G版S 4裸機價格還未發佈。

Most phone manufacturers buy components from many different suppliers. But Samsung, which builds everything from chips to displays, has used its production capabilities to produce many of the key components inside its S 4 phones.

大多數手機生產商會從很多不同供應商那裏購買零部件。而產品涵蓋從芯片到顯示屏的三星充分利用了自身的生產能力，S 4手機內配置的很多關鍵零部件都是三星自產。

'Samsung's strength is this ability to in-source to itself,' IHS analyst Vincent Leung said in an interview. 'They just keep adding to the list of components that they can supply to themselves.'

IHS分析師Vincent Leung接受採訪時說，三星的優勢就是這種“內包”給自己的能力。他說，三星還在不斷增加自供零部件的種類。

One key component that Samsung didn't produce for its phone sold in the U.S., was the applications processor. U.S. versions of the phone contain a Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) that contributes $20 to the overall cost, IHS says.

三星這款在美國銷售的智能手機有一個非自產的關鍵元件，那就是應用程序處理器。IHS說，美國版手機採用的是高通公司(Qualcomm Inc.)生產的Snapdragon處理器，在總成本中佔了20美元。

Versions of the phone sold in Korea and other markets around the world use a Samsung-made chip called Exynos 5 Octa that costs $28 in place of the Qualcomm chip. Samsung manufactures at least four different variations of the phone around the world, including two being sold in the U.S., one to AT&T, and another to Verizon Wireless, said Andrew Rassweiler, another IHS analyst.

在韓國和世界其它市場上銷售的S 4則採用的是三星自產的Exynos 5 Octa芯片，成本爲28美元。IHS另一分析師拉斯韋勒(Andrew Rassweiler)說，這款手機三星至少會在世界範圍內生產四種不同版本，包括正在美國銷售的兩個版本，分別提供給電話電報公司和運營商Verizon Wireless。

'Samsung is demonstrating its ability to suit the tastes of carriers in different regions of the world,' Mr. Rassweiler said. 'It comes down to what the market is willing to spend on the features offered.'

拉斯韋勒說，三星正在展示其有能力適應世界不同地區運營商的要求，具體取決於當地市場願爲該手機功能投入多少。

The fact that Samsung used the Qualcomm-made chip is a testament to the U.S. chipmaker's prowess. 'Even with all the vertical integration it is doing, it isn't like Samsung has given up on Qualcomm,' Mr. Rassweiler said.

三星使用高通芯片是對這家美國芯片製造商出色技術水平的佐證。拉斯韋勒說，三星即使在進行產品垂直整合的時候，似乎也沒放棄高通。

One interesting difference between the U.S. and Korean versions of the Galaxy S 4 is the imaging processor.

Galaxy S 4美國和韓國版之間有一個很有趣的區別：圖像處理器。

U.S. versions of the phone contain an image-processing chip made by Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. that added $1.50 to the total cost. IHS's Mr. Leung says in the Korean versions, some of the image processing is handed off to Samsung's Exynos chip.

美國版配備的是日本富士通(Fujitsu Ltd.)生產的圖像處理芯片，價格爲1.50美元。Leung說，韓國版的部分圖像處理工作則由三星的Exynos芯片完成。

Samsung also supplied the flash memory used to store data on the device.

這款手機配備的數據存儲閃存也由三星自供。

IHS estimates that the phone's 16 gigabytes of memory added $28 to the material cost of the device.

據IHS估計，這款16G版手機的閃存成本爲28美元。

The Korean company supplied its own display and touch-screen parts, which added $75 to the cost of components.

另外，該手機的顯示屏和觸摸屏零部件也爲這家韓國公司自產，成本爲75美元。

The combined display package also includes Gorilla Glass, a strong glass material made by U.S.-based Corning Inc. (GLW).

顯示屏組合配置中還有大猩猩玻璃(Gorilla Glass)。這是美國康寧公司(Corning Inc.)生產的一種強化玻璃。

The S 4's display is nearly an inch larger than Apple's iPhone 5, raising the Galaxy's material costs.

相比蘋果的iPhone 5，S 4的顯示屏大了近一英寸，其材料成本也相應提高。

Samsung is also thought to have supplied itself with several unlabeled components, including the camera module and some wireless baseband chips.

此外，還有幾種無標元件也被認爲是三星自產，如手機攝像頭和一些無線基帶芯片。

A few non-Samsung suppliers include Broadcom Corp., which provided Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips, Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (BRCM), which provided a power management chip, and Triquint Semiconductor Inc. (TQNT), which provided some wireless chips. Subscribe to WSJ:

除三星外，該手機的其它幾個供應商分別是提供了藍牙和Wi-Fi芯片的博通(Broadcom Corp.)、提供了電源管理芯片的Maxim Integrated Products Inc.和提供了部分無線芯片的Triquint Semiconductor Inc.等。