Analysis - Low Cost Tablet Ecosystem
I've been doing a lot of sleuthing, and wanted to publish a summary of the low-cost tablet ecosystem, which represents nearly a third of the total tablet share opportunity. While my list is not 100% comprehensive, it should give an overview of the most significant players.
People here should be fairly familiar with the performance characteristics of the ARM processor IP, but since there are tons of various graphics IP, I will list 2 datapoints. GFLOPs will be available to gauge lower-end models, since these routinely fail real benchmarks, and therefore do not exist in any database. I will also include 3DMark Icestorm as a benchmark proxy, when available.
I. $99 and Below Price Points
Allwinner A13 - 1x ARM Cortex-A8, ARM Mali-400 MP1 Graphics (2.7 GFLOPs)
- As meager as it seems, this design seems to be in the vast majority of designs at these price points
Rockchip RK2918 - 1x ARM Cortex-A8, Vivante GC800 Graphics (4.6 GFLOPs)
- This used to be a volume runner, but most designs seem to be shifting to Rockchip's newer designs at the higher price points
Wondermedia WM8850/WM8950 - 1x ARM Cortex-A9, ARM Mali-400 MP2 Graphics (7.2 GFLOPs)
- This is a subsidiary of Via (remember them?). While they do not have a lot of design wins, their most important one is the Asus MeMo Pad 7, which is retailing for $99, and really represents some of the best specs at this price point
MediaTek MK8317 - 2x ARM Cortex-A9, PowerVR SGX 531 Graphics (4.2 GFLOPs, 500(sic) Icestorm)
- MediaTek also has a key design at the $99 price point - the Lenovo IdeaTab A1000, which compares fairly well with the MeMo Pad 7.
I think it's possible that Intel could gain some share at the $99 price point with Medfield. If they can get a vendor like Asus to do a design based on Medfield, I think it could easily win against the MeMo Pad 7 or Lenovo A1000, and do a fairly good job at getting people to spend $10-20 more at the $79-89 price points to get something with the Intel brand at $99.
II. $109-149 Price Points
Actions Semi ATM 7029 - 4x ARM Cortex-A5, Vivante GC1000 Graphics (10.1 GFLOPs, 2.1k Icestorm)
- These guys have a bunch of designs at these price points, and they market themselves as the lowest cost quad core on the market. Although, the Cortex-A5 is an incredibly meager core.
AmLogic AML8726-MX - 2x ARM Cortex-A9, ARM Mali-400 MP2 Graphics (7.2 GFLOPs, 1.9k Icestorm)
- These guys have fewer designs, but implement the out-of-order A9 in a dual core, and most likely offer the best CPU performance below $129 price points.
Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 - 2x ARM Cortex-A9, PowerVR SGX 540 Graphics (6.1 GFLOPs, 1.8k Icestorm)
- This design just keeps on going, now in the market for more than 2 years. The new, lower priced Kindle Fire HD 7 has it starting at $139 - a great system config at this price point.
Rockchip RK3066 - 2x ARM Cortex-A9, ARM Mali-400 MP2 Graphics (9.6-19.2 GFLOPs, up to 2.8k Icestorm)
- Rockchip seems to have scored the largest number of designs. Tons of imports are using this chip. The specs are a bit hard to nail down, since it looks like they are using overclocked versions of the chips in many cases with clocks 2x higher than original spec - hence the large variability. But they are an excellent performer at these price points.
MediaTek MT8125 - 4x ARM Cortex-A7, PowerVR SGX 544-MP1 Graphics (9.2-11.4 GFLOPs, 3.1k Icestorm)
- MediaTek really belongs at the higher price points with this design, but one particular OEM has created an excellent config at the $149 price point - the Asus MeMo Pad HD 7. The HD part is important, since nearly everything in this design has been improved over the device at $99.
I really hope Intel goes after the $149 price point with Clovertrail+ in full force. The Dell Venue 7 seems like a great design for this segment.
III. $159-199 Price Points
nVidia Tegra 3 - 4x ARM Cortex-A9, Tegra 3 Graphics (10-12.5 GFLOPs, 3.8k Icestorm)
- Yep, nVidia is bottom-feeding in this segment with Tegra 3, and still selling in volume on the now price-discounted Nexus 7 (2012 Edition), starting at $179.
Allwinner A31 - 4x ARM Cortex-A7, PowerVR SGX 544-MP2 Graphics (22.4 GFLOPs, 4.2k Icestorm)
- Allwinner went all-out in creating a very powerful low cost chip. This seems to have ramped up well at these price points, though they left a hole at lower price points, where the RK3066 won all the designs.
Rockchip RK3188 - 4x ARM Cortex-A9, ARM Mali-400 MP4 Graphics (19.2-21.6 GFLOPs, 4.1k Icestorm)
- Rockchip also went with a fairly high end config, and seems to be outperforming Tegra 3 in most cases, though lacking the brand clout to get meaningful designs. Still, they seem to be following Allwinner in getting a fairly good assortment of designs at these price points.
Marvell PXA 986 - 2x ARM Cortex-A9, Vivante GC1000 Graphics (9.6 GFLOPs, 2.0k Icestorm)
- This fairly meager design is meaningful, given that Samsung chose them for the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, which is sure to get meaningful volumes. Even though the specs are fairly weak at the $199 price point and this is Marvell's only design win that I could find, Samsung's brand should carry it through.
All being said, I think Clovertrail+ would do extremely well at these price points - with better CPU performance than quad A9 cores, and 3DMark Icestorm in the 5.5-6.5k range. I'd like to see some 7-8" designs that get down to $149 with decent specs, and some 9-10" designs at $179-199 with decent specs. I think these would clean house.
IV. $209-249 Price Points
I won't bother listing the specs, but two significant designs have cratered any chance of competing for meaningful volume at 7" in this price range - the Google Nexus 7 (2013 Edition), and the new Kindle Fire HDX 7, both starting at $229. The latter uses the new Snapdragon 800, which basically brings a V12 engine into a Volkswagon. Both Amazon and Google will clean house in the 7" market at these price points.
However, for the 9-10" world, there is a huge hold for the China market to exploit. The Allwinner A31 and Rockchip RK3188 both have many designs here, including 10" tablets with 2048x1536 retina displays, starting at $239. Lenovo also has their IdeaTab S6000 tablet, which uses the MediaTek MT8125 in a 10" design at $249 (with 1280x800 display).
I think this price range is ripe for Intel to exploit with Bay Trail, and while it will be difficult to outsell Amazon and Google in the 7" space, they could get meaningful share in 9-10" tablets, IMO. Though maybe a 7" Bay Trail design would work at $199 or below, which could be a threshold that generates some interest from a pricing point of view.
And I will stop the analysis here, since you no longer tend to see Chinese brand products above $249. Hopefully, this gives some insight and clarity into a part of the tablet market that is about 1/3 of the volumes today, and expected to grow to 1/2 over time. Intel could have some real traction here, with the Dell Venue as an example. The Asus MeMo Pad FHD 10 is another good example of a design that can win share - and I believe over the next few quarters, we're going to see a lot of activity in this space.
