There are several categories of mobile cell phones – GSM Cell Phone, CDMA Cell Phone, basic cell phone, music phones, camera phones, smartphones, 3G cell Phone etc. Again, there could be Bluetooth in a cell phone or infrared. How a cell phone works depends on the type of phone it is.

How a cell phone is made depends of the kind of phone the manufacturer produces. Manufacturing cell phones includes several cell phone technologies, techniques and engineering.

Whatever be the category of the cell phone, the production process is more or less same with little more or little less steps depending on the kind of phone being manufactured.

Since it is not possible to explain the production process of all kinds of mobile cell phones here, I explain the common steps and procedures that follow in manufacturing most cell phones.

Mobile cell phone manufacturers make a team of engineers with a team leader to design a concept. This team of engineers creates the design and concept of the next cell phone of the company. All cell phone manufacturers try to add new looks and features to their next cell phone.

Once the design and concept of a new cell phone is ready, it is passed on to upper level of senior engineers for approval. Once the new design is approved by experienced engineers, it passes on to the next stage.

Once the concept for a new cell phone is ready, the next step is to add new features. Any cell phone manufacturing company will always try to add some or the other new feature in their next release. For e.g. a basic cell phone can be upgraded to a music phone, or a music phone can be upgraded to a camera phone and so on.

The idea is to offer something new to customer.

Once the concept, design and features to be added are ready, it is time to make a list of all the required parts (both hardware and software). Engineers will make a list of hardware to be used in the new cell phone. These hardware may include - battery, housing, controls and buttons, cables and sockets etc. If it is a CDMA cell phone, the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) will be included in the phone itself.

It is not necessary that the mobile cell phone manufacturing companies manufacture all parts of a cell phone or have all the parts in stock. Many cell phone manufacturers purchase parts from other vendors or contract manufacturers. Contract manufacturers are those who manufacture these parts on a contract basis. If the cell phone manufacturing company does not have any of the required part or parts, it will either manufacture it or get it from some other source.

Once everything required for production is in stock, it is time to assemble all the cell phone parts. Most cell phone assembly line uses Surface Mount Technology (SMT). Most Cell Phone Assembly Line are Cleanroom (Clean from all kinds of dirt) and ESD Safe (To prevent any static charge). All engineers and workers in the cell phone assembly line wear esd-safe uniform that include ESD-safe aprons, ESD-Safe hand gloves, Head Covers, ESD-safe sleepers or shoes and wrist strap or heal strap. Even the flooring is ESD-Safe.
The assembly line is meant to put all cell phone parts together. Most electronic components of a cell phone are too sensitive to static charge; hence all care is taken to prevent it. With all the protection, workers assemble all the parts with assembly machines.

Once the cell phone is assembled and loaded with software, it moves to the QA (Quality Assurance) department for testing. The QA analysts test each and every cell phone for each functionality including signal, sound, battery, key pads, screen, video, Bluetooth and all other features included in the phone. If any problem is found in any of the cell phone, it is sent back for rework. This faulty cell phone will again return back for QA testing if passed, will be given an OK, or it will go into the trash.

Now when the cell phone is ready, it is time for packaging and shipping.

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