iSuppli: The iPad 2's Advantage is Efficiency

Tablet manufacturers still can't match the design efficiency of Apple iPad 2, according to an IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis of eight tablet models.

"Since Apple controls both the operating system and hardware design of the iPad, it is able to attain design efficiencies that other tablet manufacturers cannot," said Wayne Lam, senior analyst, competitive analysis, at IHS. "These efficiencies become obvious in areas like the memory and the battery, where Apple maintains advantages in cost, space savings and performance compared with every competitor in the business."

iPad's Memory and Battery Stay Slim
Apple's control over the operating system allows it to reduce costs by limiting the quantity of memory in the iPad. In the current-generation iPad 2, the density of synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) is 512 megabytes-half that of the 1 gigabtye used in competitive designs. This memory density reduction results in a nearly $14 reduction in the BOM of the iPad 2 compared to other tablets. Likewise, the original iPad contained half as much SDRAM as comparable competitive devices with single-core applications processors.


"The iPad's efficient memory usage stems from the fundamental difference in the architecture of the operating system," Lam said. "Apple's iOS handles multitasking differently than other tablet operating systems, allowing it to reduce the amount of memory required to support the microprocessor."

For a more detailed analysis you can read the full report below...

Read More [via Gizmodo]