It’s been more than a decade that we have been using smartphones. Smartphones have changed our lives altogether. Smartphones are named “smart” because they can do a lot more than just a phone can do. From waking up to keeping track of our office meetings everything can be done on smartphones. With the technological advancements, we can see new models launching every week with new and better features.

Have you ever thought that the smartphones that are launched so smoothly in the market go through a very long manufacturing process? It starts with a simple idea to the product making and the whole journey is quite tough. The best part of smartphone manufacturing is that they need not start things from scratch. They have older models. Every company works on these models to fine tune them, make them better and add more and innovative features.

The process of the smartphone manufacturing can be explained in these 8 simple steps:

  1. Developing concept: The first phase starts with conceptual phase. Sketches and wireframes are made using different designs, features and interface options. With these sketches, the phone’s weight, size, portability, and scale are also decided. This phase is most intensive as every phone today needs to be compact and portable and companies need to work on several sketches and wireframes to finalize one concept. The designs, which are, finalized in this step goes into the next step of making prototype.
  2. Making prototype: in this step, several prototypes are made from the finalized designs. These prototypes are just for visual purpose and are non-functional. Prototypes are made from plastic, Styrofoam and other res-suable materials. This is a dummy version and it is passed through many people to express their opinions and reviews for the same. With the given suggestions, amendments are made to finalize the designs of the phone. Once the prototype is finalized, this is pushed to engineers, who work on the electronic parts of the phone.
  3. Working on phone electronics: For every phone, the key part is its electronics. It’s the electronics that control everything from the phone display information, making calls, to sending locations. What electronics to be used inside the phone are decided on the basis of the decisions made during conceptual phase. In this step, engineers work on the hardware of the phone. They work on the memory and processor of the handset. They also work on the display screen, battery potential and appearance of the phone. It is in this phase that engineers work on front and rear cameras too. Once all the electronic components are installed on the phone, it is checked for its working performance.
  4. Installation of software: Once the necessary hardware components are fitted in the phone, it’s time to infuse life in it through software installation. Majority of smartphone manufacturers use proprietary software for their phones. The software is developed by the series of programmers that work on developing the design of the interface, phone’s basic and advanced functions and other features. Most of the modern cell phones have programmed basic features such as text messaging, calendar and clock. Once the software installation is complete. The phone is sent for final construction.
  5. Construction and fabrication: Every piece of the cell phone is made separately. First, its casing is made. Once the casing is made, the printed circuit board is made and loaded with required software and operating systems. This circuit board is finally placed in the casing using a series of eyeglass screws. Now, the other components of the phone are added such as the screen, keypad, antenna, microphone, and speaker. Once the phone is completed, it is sent for testing.
  6. In the construction phase, some of the components of the smartphones manufactured in India are in-house while some other are outsourced to different Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM).
  7. Testing of the phone: Once the phone construction is complete, it is tested several times for various features before it goes for mass production. Tests may vary from simple phone browsing to different drop tests, water tests. Experts also check for the convenience of button placements and antenna performance to make it perfectly suitable for the users.
  8. Mass Production: Once the constructed model passes all the tests, the mass production of the quality passed model starts. For this, necessary documentation is also prepared and sent for packaging. Mass production of any phone takes place in manufacturing plants of the company. After the “Make In India” plan, smartphone manufacturing in India has gained momentum and there are several plants of leading companies such as Samsung, LG, Microsoft, ASUS, and Micromax.
  9. Packaging and shipping: Once the handset is ready after construction and mass production, it is packaged for shipment. Packaging involves combining phone, its accessories, and user manual into the box. Once the boxes are packed, they are shipped to different countries and their different markets. From the different markets, the phone reaches the retailers. Customers will buy the phone directly from retailers and this is the time, the real testing of the device starts.

Materials used in the smartphones:

The aforementioned steps explain the entire manufacturing process of smartphone manufacturing. During this process, different types of materials are used. The basic ones are plastic, glass, and different metals including rare earth metals. Generally, the outer coating of the phone is made up of hardened plastic (either acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polycarbonate). This is further coated with the flame retardant material. This plastic is generally impact resistant and temperature resistant. The screen of the phone is made of thin glass sheets with liquid crystals compressed in between commonly known as LCD (liquid crystal display). The battery of the smartphones is generally made up of lithium ion, Ni-Cd or Ni-MH.

With the above-explained information, now we know a lot about the smartphone manufacturing and the different materials used in it. Isn’t surprising that the smartphone that we use so simply is made so smartly.