德州仪器推出一种材料清单(BOM)成本只有70美元的平板电脑参考设计，面向多种嵌入市场。德州仪器的这种Electronic Tablet (eTab)价格可能只是苹果iPad Mini或Kindle Fire的一半，针对从医院到零售商的多种垂直市场。
eTab基于德州仪器的Sitara AM335x SoC——单核ARM Cortex-A8，速度最高达720 MHz，批量成本只有5美元。这款7英寸平板电脑还包含一些德州仪器模拟芯片和一个德州仪器的Wi-Fi/蓝牙组合器件。其所含德州仪器元件的总成本约为13美元。
德州仪器的市场主管Troy Coleman表示：“这不是传统平板电脑，它可以用于任何应用，从家庭自动解决方案到取代饭店的印制菜谱。”
Sitara SoC包含一个触摸屏控制器、图像引擎、Ethernet MAC和工业通讯子系统，支持Profibus等标准。该系统搭载安卓4.0和Linux。
德州仪器委托印度设计服务公司AllGo Embedded Systems来生产上述参考设计(见下图)。Coleman表示，对于想添加自己的定制特点和软件的OEM来说，这个参考设计“已完成了80%的工作。”
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AllGo Systems在首席执行官K. Srinivasan在新闻稿中表示，eTab“允许工业市场中的开发者快速对其平板电脑进行定制和差异化，而且风险极低。”
工业市场+客制化？看来就是这么回事了！
上个月早些时候，以色列财经新闻网站《Calcalist》曾报导，亚马逊正与德州仪器(TI)洽谈收购TI旗下移动芯片部门，以强化垂直整合。一时间谣言四起说TI将放弃移动市场，TI随后辟谣，称只是将重心转移到嵌入式领域。（请点击这里查看
《没有基带的OMAP能撑多久？TI重新调整AP策略》）
TI并没有要退出的意思，只是不走消费电子这条路，改走一条别人很少走的路，不会挤破头，也许还是捷径。
这项消息刚好发生在TI今年9月下旬宣布打算停止为智能手机与平板电脑开发OMAP芯片之后。TI认为，这种移动芯片在未来能大量销售的机会有限，根据《华尔街日报》(The WallStreet Journal)报导，“在我们持续向前迈进时，这一市场商机并没那么大的吸引力了，”TI资深副总裁Greg Delagi在与分析师的会议上说，“垂直整合已经成为市场上的重要的因素。”
那么亚马逊(Amazon)呢？他的这些动作是想跨足移动芯片领域？进军智能手机市场？
本文授权编译自EE Times，EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：亚马逊：苹果和三星都自己做处理器，我也要！
相关阅读：
• 没有基带的OMAP能撑多久？TI重新调整AP策略
• 英特尔，重构一个智能的嵌入式世界
• 巨头论剑移动设备硬件，加速供应链垂直整合Fi9esmc
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亚马逊的心理可以解读为：“苹果(Apple)和三星(Samsung)都为自家的智能手机和平板电脑制造处理器，我也要。”你可能还记得，苹果在2008年收购了P.A. Semi。拥有自己的微处理器设计团队以及掌握制造业务，的确有助于一家公司为其产品加入更多特色与提高性能，同时也降低成本。
因此，这可能是传言中亚马逊对移动芯片业务感兴趣的背后真正动机。“亚马逊对于TI移动芯片业务的兴趣更甚于智能手机，”NBG Productions公司分析师Brian Sozzi在Twitter上表示，“因为这关系到拥有供应链以降低成本的优势”。
而这将为平板电脑与智能手机领域的其它主要设计公司带来什么影响？Google在去年收购了摩托罗拉移动公司(Motorola Mobility)，当时的传言指称收购的目的全是为了专利。但我想知道的是：在此收购交易中，Google是否取得了半导体设计专业技术？
我无法从摩托罗拉移动芯片业务范围找到任何细节，但很想听听读者对此看法。看看Google在今年5月的新闻稿中宣布已完成收购交易，摩托罗拉移动公司新任CEO Dennis Woodside说：
“摩托罗拉公司在1983年推出第一支商用移动电话，从而开创了整个移动通讯产业。30年后的今天，移动终端又成为运算革命的核心。我们的目标很简单：摩托罗拉移动公司拥有杰出的人才，我们将集中力量于精简宏伟的目标上，为世界各地的人们创造出色的终端装置。”
该新闻稿中还提到聘请加入摩托罗拉移动(Motorola Mobility)团队的几位新任高阶主管。其中之一是先前曾经在亚马逊和诺基亚担任供应链副总裁的Mark Randall。
当移动平台制造商走向垂直整合时，处理器供货商可能必须仰赖像智能电网等更多其它的工业应用，才能取得销售与利润了。TI的Delagi说，该公司的目标将 针对更多采用其OMAP技术的嵌入式应用。TI已经拥有约4,000家嵌入式产品的客户，每年可带来约4亿美元的营收，他说。
这 样的趋势可能使英特尔不断推动Atom处理器落实于移动应用的策略成为一步坏棋吗？事实上，这一市场上还会有许多的手机和平板电脑供货商都还需要第三方微处理器供货商的支持。至少，我们希望会如此。或者，也许我们最后会看到市场上只剩两到三家全部都能自行控制供应链的移动平台OEM。
编译：Luffy Liu
本文授权编译自EE Times，EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载
参考英文原文：Will Vertical Integration in Mobile Shut Processor Vendors Out?，by Tam Harbert, Freelance Journalist；TI shows embedded tablet with $70 BoM, by Rick Merritt
相关阅读：
• 没有基带的OMAP能撑多久？TI重新调整AP策略
• 英特尔，重构一个智能的嵌入式世界
• 巨头论剑移动设备硬件，加速供应链垂直整合Fi9esmc
{pagination}
Will Vertical Integration in Mobile Shut Processor Vendors Out?
Tam Harbert
Amazon, in the chip business? That's the rumor that's zinging around the Internet this week.
Specifically, Israeli financial news site Calcalist reported on October 15 that Amazon was talking with Texas Instruments about acquiring TI's mobile phone chip division.
That follows TI's announcement in late September that it plans to stop developing OMAP chips for smartphones and tablets. TI thinks the chance of selling large volumes of such chips in the future are limited, reports the Wall Street Journal: "We believe that that opportunity is less attractive as we move forward," said Greg Delagi, a TI senior vice president, in a meeting with analysts, adding that "vertical integration has become a significant factor in the marketplace."
Translation: Apple and Samsung both make their own processors for their smartphones and tablets. Apple, you may recall, acquired P.A. Semi in 2008. Owning their own microprocessor design teams and controlling manufacturing has surely helped the companies to embed more features and improve performance while at the same time driving down costs.
That could be the motivation behind Amazon's purported interest. "Amazon interest in Texas Instruments' chip business is bigger than smartphones," tweeted Brian Sozzi, an analyst with NBG Productions. "It's about owning the supply chain to drive down costs."
Where does this leave the other major design force in tablets and smartphones -- Google? Well, it did purchase Motorola Mobility last year. The buzz at the time was that the acquisition was all about patents. But I wonder: Did Google get semiconductor design expertise as part of the package?
I couldn't find any details on the extent of Motorola Mobility's chip business, and would love to hear from readers on this question. But Google's press release announcing the closing of the acquisition in May quoted the new CEO of Motorola Mobility, Dennis Woodside:
Motorola literally invented the entire mobile industry with the first-ever commercial cell phone in 1983. Thirty years later, mobile devices are at the center of the computing revolution. Our aim is simple: to focus Motorola Mobility's remarkable talent on fewer, bigger bets, and create wonderful devices that are used by people around the world.
The release also named the new executive team at Motorola Mobility. One was Mark Randall, a former supply chain vice president at Amazon and Nokia.
As the makers of mobile platforms become more vertically integrated, microprocessor vendors may need to rely more on more industrial applications like the smart grid for their sales and profits. TI's Delagi said the company would target more embedded applications with its OMAP technology. TI already has about 4,000 customers for such embedded products, generating about $400 million in annual revenue, he said.
Do these trends make Intel's continual quest to get the Atom processor into the mobile space a bad move? There will certainly be plenty of phone and tablet suppliers out there who will need a third-party microprocessor supplier. At least, let's hope there will be. Or maybe we'll be down to two or three mobile platform OEMs, all controlling their own supply chains.
TI shows embedded tablet with $70 BoM
Rick Merritt
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Texas Instruments slashed the cost of tablets for a broad range of embedded markets with a reference design that has a bill of materials of just $70. TI’s Electronic Tablet (eTab) could cost halve the price of an Apple iPad Mini or Kindle Fire and is aimed at a laundry list of vertical markets from hospitals to retailers.
The eTab is based on TI’s Sitara AM335x SoC, a single core ARM Cortex-A8 running at up to 720 MHz that costs as little as $5 in volume. The seven-inch tablet also includes a number of TI analog chips and a TI Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo device, in total about $13 in TI parts.
“It’s a non-traditional tablet that could be used as anything from a home automation solution to a replacement for a printed menu in a restaurant,” said Troy Coleman, a marketing director at TI.
[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]
The Sitara SoC includes a touch screen controller, graphics engine, Ethernet MAC and industrial comms subsystem with support for standards such as Profibus. The system runs Android 4.0 and Linux.
TI commissioned AllGo Embedded Systems, a design services company based in India, to build the reference design (below). “Its 80 percent of the way there” for OEMs who want to add their own custom features and software, said Coleman.
The eTab “allows developers in industrial markets to quickly customize and differentiate their tablets with minimal risk,” said K. Srinivasan, chief executive of AllGo Systems in a press statement.
责编：Quentin
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