Rumors in recent weeks have excited Samsung smartphone fans with fantastic tales of a metal backing and chassis for Samsung’s next Galaxy S smartphone. Though fans can still hope they should prepare, however, for yet another hard plastic case similar to the Galaxy S III and Galaxy S4.
A DigiTimes report today revealed that chassis manufacturers in Taiwan (those which almost certainly would create such components for Samsung) have not begun mass production on anything resembling a metal chassis for a Galaxy S5. The report’s unnamed sources stated that Samsung is “still evaluating” using a metal chassis for its high-end smartphones, but that it doesn’t appear to be ready to implement such a solution for its upcoming Galaxy S device, which is expected sometime during the first quarter 2014.
The metal Galaxy S rumors, according to DigiTimes, had pointed to several manufacturers who could produce such components for Samsung, including Catcher Technology, Ju Teng International, and BYD.
The report’s sources went on to state that it might actually be a bad idea for Samsung to make its high-end smartphone chassis metal. Production costs are a factor, of course, and would undoubtedly increase with metal components. However, the sources also pointed out that Samsung has managed to seriously challenge Apple’s high-end smartphone supremacy with its current Galaxy S designs, suggesting that consumers might not care that the devices have plastic shells.
Instead of metal, the DigiTimes report states that Samsung is more likely to use plastic combined with carbon fiber or fiberglass for its smartphone chassis. This suggestion matches industry predictions that plastics will become more important to the overall mobile device industry as it matures.