HTC to use more plastic, less metal in their smartphones

Via Digitimes we hear that HTC is halving the number of smartphones constructed from a mental chassis from 60% to 30% in 2012.

HTC has been using smartphone chassis maker Catcher for the bulk of these components, and the company’s share price dropped 2.1% on the rumour.

The article is not accompanied by reasons for the move, and with metal unibodies being somewhat of a trademark of HTC the reception has been quite negative.

On the other hand, plastic phones will likely be lighter and have better signal reception, which may be behind the move, or it may be simply to cut costs and increase their capacity.

Are our readers concerned about HTC’s build quality going down-market as their volume  of smartphones increase? Let us know below.