Chinese device maker Hisense recently launched two Android tablets in the US. The Hisense Sero 7 Pro is a $149 tablet designed to give the Google Nexus 7 a run for its money, while the $99 Hisense Sero 7 is… a lot less impressive (until you consider the price).

But it turns out component costs are so cheap these days that you can sell a halfway tablet for $99 and still make some money.

Chipworks tore apart the HiSense Sero 7 to see what makes it tick, and found about $50 worth of components under the hood.

Hisense Sero 7 tablet dissected

Even when you take distribution and marketing costs into account, that leaves plenty of room for a healthy profit margin

The Hisense 7 inch tablets are available in the US exclusively from Walmart.

While the basic specifications for the tablets are written on the back of the box, the Chipworks teardown provides some more detailed specs:

  • 1.6 GHz Rockchip RK3066 ARM Cortex-A9 dual core processor
  • Mali 400 graphics
  • 1GB of RAM (4 Hynix 256MB DRAM chips)
  • 4GB of flash storage (also from Hynix)

The tablet has a 1024 x 600 pixel capacitive touchscreen display, a microSD card slot, and Android 4.1 software. It features a 3400mAh battery and a front-facing 0.3MP camera.

When you add the Ralink WiFi chip, Realtec audio chip, Freescale accelerometer, and other components, Chipworks figures there are about $50 worth of electronics in the Hisense Sero 7 tablet.

via Padhz

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9 replies on “$99 Hisense Sero 7 tablet dissected, costs about $50 to build”

  1. Get the Pro, can anyone post benchmarks? I have the Sero 7 Pro I have benchmark post on my blog.

    tabletuser.blogspot.com

    Bigger battery, quad core processor, 5MP rear camera, NFC. I have a RK3066 TV sick MK808B and it is fast, but Tegra3 at 1300 mhz is faster.

  2. Since that unit is apart, they might be able to put something inside to strengthen and brace the back since it apparently flexes a bit where it shouldn’t. If you have one, try and press directly in the middle…I don’t have one but I saw a video on it online.

    1. I noticed that on mine too and considered doing the same.
      It isn’t a deal breaker, and I’m pretty sure it only hits the battery, which seems harmless, but it does exist.

    2. Maybe if HiSense spent a little more, they wouldn’t be having the production problems so many customers are already complaining about, with their tablets constantly shutting down, bad MicroSD slot and HDMI ports and Cameras that don’t work.

      1. I haven’t heard about these teething problems, but none of them are insurmountable if Hisense really wants to make an inroad in the N/A marketplace. I am actually following their endeavors quite a bit now and I hope they don’t blow it. This has the potential to be a very good tablet. Now that we know Wallyworld pockets a $100, maybe they can afford to not skimp so much on the things mentioned for the Serio Pro Pro (version 2).

      2. Several co workers have purchased this tablet with zero problems reported from anyone so far.

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