ABI Research: Nokia 700 Teardown Shows TI Designing New Cellular Baseband Chipset

November 14, 2011​

The Nokia 700 is a recently launched HSPA phone running Symbian Belle. The unexpected news is that TI produced a new chip for Nokia instead of just letting the existing product line run to end of life as most expected it would - TI exited the merchant baseband business years ago and Nokia shifted its strategy to a more open approach. The new TI chip combines two chips into one and operates at a higher frequency than prior generations. The results for Nokia are lower cost, higher performance, and low power drain. The core (Arm11) is not up to the performance of most new launches this year but the combination of OS and supporting chips make for an enjoyable experience. The coming months will tell if this new design is enough for TI to maintain its $1.7B annual revenue from baseband sales that mainly come from Nokia.

Is TI rethinking its exit from the merchant market?

Major Nokia 700 notables include:

•​New TI baseband processor via process shrink.

•Smooth, fast, and efficient performance from the combination Symbian Belle OS, TI baseband, and Broadcom VideoCore IV processor.

•Second generation multi-mode multi-band PA architecture with new suppliers.

•NFC supported.

ABI Research’s “Nokia 700 Teardown Report” provides detailed photos, process evaluation, and part descriptions for all of the major components such as power amplifier, power management, baseband processor, application processor, RF, Bluetooth, GPS, WiLAN, and many discretes. Tying all this information together are unique circuit board photos, performance measurements, benchmark data, cost information, and board area data.