Samsung will finally be moving away from plastic casings on its premium flagship devices next year if the reports trickling in are accurate. The latest reveals that Samsung is expressing keen interest in contracting Catcher Technology Co., Ltd., a company that provides metal casings for Apple and HTC products, for metal casings for 2014 devices.
According to a Taipei Times report, Barclays analysts Dale Gai and Kirk Yang sent out a note stating that Catcher's potential new orders will be for the Apple iPhone 5s and Samsung's Galaxy models. Catcher already provides the metal casing for Apple's Macbook Air and iPad mini as well as HTC's One smartphone.
"Our checks suggest Catcher has been qualified as one of the major sources on the total metal casing smartphone volumes at 10 [million to] 30 million next year from Samsung," the Barclays analysts wrote.
No confirmations have come out of either camps involved, and it may be some time until there's concrete proof that Samsung will employ metal casings for its next flagship device. Samsung is reported to be in the process of still negotiating with Catcher, and while the company has allegedly put in an order for 10-30 million units, it won't finalize the contract until it has received more bids.
This isn't the first time we've heard of Samsung moving towards metal casings. Ever since the company received some major flack for the plastic feel of the Galaxy S4, the company has made a clear shift by opting for a more leathery notebook feel for the Galaxy Note 3. Samsung is even rumored to be in the process of opening a plant southeast of Seoul to manufacture aluminum and magnesium mobile casings.
Would a metal casing make you want to pick up a Samsung Galaxy device? Let us know if this simple design change would win you over in the comments section below.
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