According to the intel, Samsung is in the late stages of locking down the yield rate for the titanium frame cases. It has been teaming up with multiple Chinese case suppliers and its crew at the assembly plant in Vietnam. Apparently, Samsung started research on using titanium in smartphone case frames about two years back, but the call to bring this tech to the market only happened recently.
The game-changer here is the yield rate for the cases. If it is on the low side, brace yourself for a four to five times price hike, or so they say. Just to put things in perspective, Samsung’s premium phones now are decked out with aluminum frame cases that come in at less than $20. The ambitious target on the tech giant’s radar is to churn out 15 million units of titanium frame cases, mirroring the number of Galaxy S23 Ultra models shipped this year.
Let’s see what is so special about titanium. First, it is lighter than steel and stronger than aluminum. Not only that, but it plays it cool with low heat and current conductivity. If Samsung goes all-in on titanium for the Galaxy S24 Ultra, we might not see around 10% weight drop from its predecessor, as we saw with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro, where the 15 Pro shed 9% of the weight compared to its predecessor, thanks to a switch to titanium.
The difference is that Apple used stainless steel for its iPhone 14 while Samsung used aluminum for the Galaxy S23 series, which is why the Galaxy S24 series would not be much lighter than its predecessor.
In reality, titanium is roughly two-thirds heavier than aluminum. However, its inherent strength is the game-changer. You can achieve the same physical strength with just a fraction of the amount of titanium compared to aluminum.
Apple took the lead by introducing titanium in smartphones through its latest iPhone 15 Pro models, and it did not shy away from flaunting it in its marketing efforts. If Samsung jumps on the bandwagon, which seems probable given previous rumors supporting the shift from aluminum to titanium, we could witness a domino effect. The adoption of titanium frames in smartphones might just become a trend.
