If it wasn’t official before, it is now...the tablet market is officially saturated. What began as an industry in earnest in 2010 with the release of Apple’s iPad tablet computer, has now become overpopulated with every electronics manufacturer across the globe releasing or developing tablets in an effort to match the success of Apple’s flagship product.
Since the release of the iPad, electronic powerhouses such as Motorola (XOOM), Samsung (the Galaxy Tab) and the RIM (the Blackberry Playbook) have all released their own variation on the tablet, hoping to get a piece of a pie that was, for the most part, baked by Apple. Unfortunately, although selling in adequate numbers, none of these tablets have been able to match the sales of the iPad and their market share dwindled even further with the release of the iPad 2.
HP has previously introduced a product to the tablet market with the introduction of the HP Slate. This 8.9-inch sized tablet ran Windows 7 and was powered by an Intel Atom processor and was met with a lukewarm response. HP went back to the drawing board and, using knowledge acquired with their acquisition of Palm, began work on a new tablet, the HP TouchPad.
The HP TouchPad differs from the previous Slate by featuring a 9.7-inch screen (identical in size to the iPad) and a dual-core processor manufactured by Qualcomm. The TouchPad is also the first tablet from HP to utilize their newest proprietary operating system – webOS 3.0 - initially developed by Palm. Many reviewers have commented how the clean interface of webOS is reminiscent of Apple’s iOS.
A look inside the TouchPad…
Deconstructing the TouchPad in our teardown revealed a rather tightly packed device, starting with the display and touchscreen being connected to the glass of the tablet. Samsung provides the LCD module, featuring the part number of LT097XL01.
The rear cover of the TouchPad reveals the bulk of the electronic components as well as the resting place of the speakers, headphone jack, connectors, the SD card assembly, the WiFi antennae and of course the battery pack (a 3.7V Lithium Polymer battery).
A closer look inside the TouchPad reveals three circuit boards. The main board houses the primary components of the TouchPad, namely the processor and tablet memory, while two smaller boards exist to control the I/O of the tablet and the touchscreen.
The primary design winners in the TouchPad include Qualcomm with their APQ8060 processor and power management ICs scoring spots on the main board. Qualcomm also gets the benefits of their most recent acquisition of Atheros as an Atheros device (AR6003X) provides the wireless connectivity.
Texas Instruments is also a big design winner, providing many of the power management and MOSFET ICs that comprise the TouchPad.
Finally, Invensense gets another major design win for their MPU-3050 digital gyroscope, matching the win they received in the RIM Playbook.
Here is the listing of some of the primary components:
- Qualcomm APQ8060 - Dual-core Applications Processor
- Qualcomm PM8058 - Power Management
- Qualcomm/Atheros AR6003 - Single-chip 802.11b/g/n WiFi
- SanDisk/Toshiba SDIN4C2-16GB - NAND Flash Memory package (16GB)
- Samsung K4P8G304EC - 1 GB Mobile DDR2 SDRAM
- Qualcomm PM8901 - Power Management
- Texas Instruments SN75LVDS83B - Flatlink Transmitter
- Texas Instruments TPS8903AE - Power Management
- Texas Instruments TPS99003B5A - Power Management Unit
- Texas Instruments CSD25401 - MOSFET
- Texas Instruments CSD75211W1723 - MOSFET
- Invensense MPU-3050 - 3-Axis Digital Gyroscope
- STMicroelectronics LSM303DLH - 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis magnetometer
- Wolfson Microelectronics WM8958E - Multi-channel Audio CODEC
- CSR BC63B239A04 - Single-chip Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
- Texas Instruments TPS61032 - DC-DC Step-up Regulator
- Texas Instruments TPS61187 - DC-DC Converter
- Texas Instruments TPS99003B5A - Power Management Unit
- National Semiconductor LM8502 - Lighting Management Unit
- Cypress Semiconductor CY8CTMA375 - Touchscreen Slave Controller
- Cypress Semiconductor CY8CTMA395 - Touchscreen Master Controller