Posted: February 21, 2013
Inside
Originally the Google Glass was only available to “Explorers” better known as developers. Finally Google offered a one day sale on April 15, 2014 allowing the general public to purchase the Glass for a whopping $1500. At Teardown.com we managed to get our hands on one but it didn’t last long. The teardown is underway! Stay tuned for teardown sequence photos, board shots, component identifications, and an estimated bill of materials.
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Bill of Materials Estimate
Features
| Google Glass 16GB | |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Android 4.4.2 Kit Kat |
| Display | 640x360 |
| Battery | 570 mAh |
| Camera | 5 MP |
| Connectivity & Sensors | WiFi/Bluetooth, GPS, Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope |
| NAND | 16 GB |
| SDRAM | 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM |
| Processor | Texas Instruments OMAP4430 |
| Baseband + Transceiver | None |
Cost*
| Teardown Date | April 14, 2014 | May 14, 2014 |
|---|---|---|
| Display | $3.00 | $14.53 |
| Battery | $1.14 | $1.43 |
| Camera | $5.66 | $7.07 |
| Connectivity | $10.79 | $7.20 |
| Memory (NAND) | $8.18 | $9.45 |
| Memory (SDRAM) | $4.68 | $3.27 |
| Processor | $13.96 | $10.53 |
| Power Management | $3.52 | $3.62 |
| Non-Electric | $13.63 | $17.63 |
| Supporting Materials | $1.75 | $7.05 |
| Assembly & Test | $2.15 | $17.96 |
| Other | $11.32 | $5.57 |
| Total | $79.78 | $105.31 |
* Costing is at time of teardown. Glass is an estimate only.
Why the Changes
Display: Our display number was increased based on the amount of unique prisms and screen technologies implemented. Once we had this in the lab and confirmed materials used we increased this proportionately.
Assembly & Test: Our initial assumption was built on labor rates commonly associated with personal electronics assembled in China. As the Google Glass was assembled in limited numbers in the USA we have increased this number to reflect North American labor costs.
Other Items: In our analysis we have excluded costs associated with the limited edition's Titanium frame, the option lens kit, and the limited edition packaging. Combined these would add roughly $20 dollars to the final product shipped to market, but have no material impact on the cost of delivering the Google Glass technology to end-users.
Board Shots
Google Glass Board Shot
Google Glass Board Shot
Touch Screen
Touch Screen
Camera
Camera
