Posted: February 21, 2013

Google Glass Teardown

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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Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown
Google Glass Teardown

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

Google Glass Board Shot

Google Glass Board Shot

Touch Screen

Touch Screen

Touch Screen

Camera

Camera

Camera

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