Apple Inc is unlikely to change the metal casing design for its smartphones despite reports that its new iPhone 6 models are vulnerable to bending, a Taipei-based analyst for Germany’s Deutsche Bank AG said.
Several foreign media and smartphone review Web sites, such as Unbox Therapy, have reported that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may bend slightly when users put them in their back pockets and sit on them.
In a rare statement on Friday, Apple responded that its iPhones “feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry,” adding that only nine people have contacted the US company about a bent iPhone 6 Plus.
Deutsche Bank analyst Birdy Lu (呂家霖) said he believes the controversy will not change Apple’s preference for using the aluminum unibody design on its “i-devices,” including iPhones and iPads.
“Aluminum is a light and flexible metal. Compared to plastics, aluminum is easy to bend, but is unlikely to break,” Lu wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.
“The adoption of aluminum does help to reduce i-devices’ thickness, enhance durability and make the premium look. These factors are what Apple cares most [about],” the analyst wrote.
Although aluminum casings might not return to their original shape when the external force is removed as plastic casings do, the deformation of the casing helps absorb part of the external force, Lu said.
That means the metal casing can provide better protection for components like the LCD display, he said.
The more durable aluminum casings also allowed the company to make the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus at least 0.2mm to 0.3mm slimmer than if plastic casings were used, Lu said.
Citing drop test results from smartphone review Web site SquareTrade, Lu said the iPhone 6’s breakability score is the lowest at 4, followed by the iPhone 6 Plus at 5.
Both phones are more durable than the iPhone 5S (6), Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy S5 (6.5) and HTC Corp’s (宏達電) One M8 (6.5).
Based on these arguments, Lu recommended Taiwan’s Catcher Technology Co (可成) and Casetek Holdings (鎧勝) as his top picks in the metal casing industry.
“Catcher just penetrated the iPhone metal casing supply chain for the 4.7-inch model in the third quarter of 2014, and we believe it has the potential to supply the 5.5-inch model and gain a higher market share in coming years,” the analyst said.
He was also optimistic about Casetek, given the iPhone supplier’s high possibility of leveraging its parent company, Pegatron Corp (和碩), to win metal casing orders for Apple’s rumored 12.9-inch iPad, other new iPhones and new smartphone clients.
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