New York-based ABI Research announced that it has acquired Austin-based teardown startup Market Eye 1. Financial details of the deal were not announced.
The term “teardown startup” may sound confusing, but it refers to tearing down mobile devices at the board and platform levels to see how a device operates.
Market Eye 1 was founded in 2009 by James Mielke, who will stay on as VP of engineering.
“Teardown analysis is extremely complimentary to our existing product portfolio and the interests of our core clients,” said ABI Research president Tim Archdeacon. “Jim’s approach to teardowns is driven by platform benchmarking and forecasting, and provides teardown buyers a unique perspective.”
ABI already prepares research on mobile devices, pricing, semiconductor and end-user adoption and the company stated in a press release that teardowns are the final element needed for a complete end-to-end understanding of the mobile device industry.
“Jim’s decades of experience as a teardown consumer in the industry have given him a unique way of looking at the market, one that he found was missing in the industry,” says Stuart Carlaw, chief research officer at ABI Research. “We are all looking forward to working with Jim and expanding this new product portfolio in the months ahead.”
Initially, ABI Research will offer two core product sets. One set is in mobile device teardown services, including a traditional teardown analysis of handsets, segmented by handset manufacturer. The service includes high-resolution photos and x-rays of boards and components, power measurements taken during simulated use, and cost estimates for all critical components. The service covers virtually every phone model produced each year, with detailed teardowns of those containing any new technology.
The company also offers a mobile device platform intelligence service with full specifications and a roadmap for each released and planned platform from 2000 through 2013, including overlay roadmaps for any of nearly 20 platform providers of cellular, WiMAX and LTE chipsets, application processors and connectivity.
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An example of a mobile device "teardown"
