Parts in Google's "made-in-the-USA" Nexus Q mostly from Asia
When Google announced its orb-shaped Nexus Q streaming media player, it proudly boasted that the device was made in the USA.
Once you take the device apart, though, it becomes clear that the Nexus Q actually contains many components from Japan, China, Thailand, and perhaps other countries in Asia or Europe. Technically, that doesn't mean Google was dishonest—it never claimed all the parts were sourced in the US. The device was indeed "Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A.," or at least designed and assembled in this country.
The supply chain for chips and other components typically used in electronic devices meant that it would be shocking if Google had somehow made the entire thing with components built from any single country, let alone the US. A new teardown from the folks at iFixit reveals just where the parts were sourced from, or at least likely sourced from, as several have multiple possible points of origin.
From the teardown report, here is a list of device components:
• Samsung KLMAG4FEJA-A002 16 GB moviNAND Flash Memory (manufactured in Hwaseong, South Korea or Austin, TX)
• SMSC LAN95000A Hi-Speed USB 2.0 to 10/100 Ethernet Controller (manufactured in North America, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China, India, or Europe)
• Elpida B8064B2PB 1 GB DRAM and Texas Instruments OMAP4460 Application Processor SOC
• Murata KM10L3002 (manufactured in Japan, China, or Taiwan)
• SMSC USB3320C Highly Integrated Full Featured Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ULPI Transceiver (manufactured in North America, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China, India, or Europe)
• Texas Instruments 6030B1A4 integrated power management (manufactured in USA, Germany, China, Japan, or the Philippines)
• The ethernet port is labeled as a PulseJack J0011D0NL (manufactured in China)
• The optical out port is labeled as a Toshiba TX147APL (manufactured in Japan)
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/07/parts-in-googles-made-in-the-usa-nexus-q-mostly-from-asia/
(sigh)
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