RF Front-End Module Comparison 2022 – Vol. 1 – Focus on Apple

Key Features

• Detailed photos
• Precise measurements
• Module opening
• Die measurements
• Detailed technical and cost analysis of 45 components
• Complete bills-of-materials for the modules
• Comparison between suppliers
• Comparison between OEMs
• Cost comparisons

Last year System Plus opened up hundreds of Front-End Modules (FEMs) and components to provide an overview of the Radio Frequency (RF) FEM market in selected flagship smartphones. Gathering the information into four reports from players’ evolution to worldwide analysis offers an opportunity to keep track of this technology market.

This year, System Plus Consulting again offers different volumes of technical and cost comparisons of smartphone RFFEMs. Every comparison report will focus on a specific subject. It can be a player’s evolution, a specific technology, or a comparison of flagship devices.

This, the first volume of 2022, provides insights into technology and cost data for FEMs and several components found in 18 smartphones from the Apple iPhone series since 2017. It features a comprehensive overview of the RFFEM architectures on the market, comparing available smartphones. It reveals Apple’s dependency on specific component manufacturers, along with the different choices in integration of communication technology, including millimeter wavelength (mmWave) signal support in the latest generation. Also, it reveals how the company maintains its leadership on the premium market. Recent advances are highlighted with filters, including Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) and Incredible High Performance Surface Acoustic Wave (IHP SAW) filter for 5G, and antenna tuners, with the penetration of pSemi into the bills of materials. Also, cost evaluation shows a slight increase of the total cost of the RF components while the number decreased compared to the 12^th generation.

With teardowns of the smartphones, the main RF modules and components have been extracted and physically analyzed, from the output of the transceiver to the antenna. Packaging, sizes, and technologies are studied to provide a large panel of technical and economic choices and an overview of the market.

Every component has been analyzed to understand the manufacturing process cost.

Moreover, the report includes a technical and cost comparison of the modules. It also tries to explain the smartphone makers’ choices and supplier tendencies. All RFFEMs are integrated in this report, from baseband to antenna tuner, on 5G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Global Positioning System (GPS) and Ultra-WideBand (UWB).

• Broadcom
• Murata
• Peregrine
• Qorvo
• Skyworks
• Sony
• Universal Scientific Industrial