These days, everyone needs a mobile phone and with that mobile phone they need a phone case. Furthermore, phone cases tend to wear out after some time, and need replacing every once in a while. The global demand for phone cases (including both iPhone and Android phone cases) is therefore extremely huge and the addressable market keeps growing each year.

One of the best places in the world to source and buy phone cases in China. In terms of the quality of phone cases you get for the amount you pay, few places can beat Chinese manufacturers of phone cases for value for money. This is why Phone case suppliers and businesses all around the world tend to prefer to source and buy phone cases from China.

What to look for when buying phone cases?

The most basic and important function of a mobile phone case is to protect your mobile phone, such as protecting your phone from being broken when it is dropped. Secondly, the mobile phone case should also ideally have anti-scratch capabilities along with an elegant appearance, and therefore both appearance and functionality are important when it comes to identifying ideal phone cases to source and buy from China.

The quality of the phone case material determines the quality of the phone case and the quality of the phone case varies greatly depending on the quality of the material used. Therefore, when choosing a phone case, first focus on its quality of material and then followed by its appearance.

As mobile phones become more advanced and multi-functional, people are becoming more and more dependent on their mobile phones, and the prices of mobile phones have been increasing in recent years. In line with this advancements, the mobile phone protective cases that have developed along with mobile phones are also becoming increasingly sophisticated and more high-end. The material of the phone case is also very different, from the earliest plastic (PC) to the liquid silicone that is being used by Apple nowadays.

First of all, let’s look at the current mainstream mobile phone case materials.

1. Silicone

Liquid silicone phone cases are all the rage these days. Nowadays, in the Chinese market, whether it is an iPhone or an Android phone, liquid silicone phone cases are very popular, while prices are not expensive, the sourcing prices are generally 10-30 yuan (USD1.5-USD4.5). In the meantime, the so-called liquid phone cases of less-than-usd $1 on the market are imitations as they are actually made of solid silicone.

Typical characteristics of liquid silicone phone case:

Pros:

Smooth feel. It has a very skin-friendly texture, soft, comfortable and elastic touch feel.
Generally, liquid silicone made of the same material as the baby pacifier is used, which is environmentally friendly and healthy, and is not easy to deform. It has an excellent shock proof and anti-scratch effect. The liquid silicone mobile phone case has good elasticity and good shock-proof features, and offers your phone a solid protection.

Cons

The feel of liquid silicone depends half on the material and half on the coating. But the coating will be polished after all, usually six months to one year. After the coating is polished, the feel will change drastically, and you can’t make up for the coating unless you buy a new one. There is another problem with liquid silicone which is that it is easy to break when disassembled.

2. Glass + Metal

Metal phone cases are generally made for full body protection meaning that the entire phone is wrapped by the phone protective case. Metal is often used for a protective mobile phone frame, and the type of metal used is typically aluminum alloy. The front is usually tempered glass (or the latest high-alumina silica glass which has better transmittance), the back side is usually acrylic or tempered glass. The advantage of this type of material is that the phone is fully protected. Tempered glass has good light transmission, which is not only protecting your mobile phone, but also shows your mobile phone’s original color and appearance. The metal frame can be made to match the color of the mobile phone, so that the appearance looks almost the same as the mobile phone’s original color. the sourcing price is between 20-40 yuan in the Chinese market.

Pros
The metal frame is tough giving it better shock proof capabilities. According to statistics, 90% of mobile phones are broken when fall off because the frame touches the ground. The metal frame has high resistance against deformation and fracture, giving it ideal protection performance. The gloss is very good, the colors are diverse, and the texture is also high quality. The advantages of glass material are strong light transmission, abrasion resistant and anti-scratch, strong transparency, non-toxic, harmless and tasteless.
Cons
These types of phone cases cannot be ultra-thin. However, metal mobile phone cases are thick and heavier than other materials but poor in portability, and it may even interfere with your mobile phone signal.
3. TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethanes): tough but too easy to stain
During the early days of mobile phones, TPU material was so popular and used by almost all brands of mobile phone cases at that time, while its coverage was unprecedented. At that time, the mobile phone cases were soft, wrapping the mobile phone from the back to the frames, many users like this kind of mobile phone case, but consumers who have used this kind of mobile phone case typically encountered a problem, that is, because of the poor sealing, after a period of time, there is too much dirt inside the phone case.
Many people don’t know the difference between silicone and TPU, and even some sellers don’t know either. They say that the soft ones are silicone. Let’s clarify it for you:
In terms of how it feels when handheld, TPU is generally harder than that of silicone, and is more elastic, while the silicone ones are less elastic. From the outside, TPU can be made very transparent, but silicone ones are not. The most transparent is very hazy, like thick fog.

However, the disadvantage of TPU is that it gets deformed easily and can turn yellow over time. After three or four months of use, if you happen to buy a light-colored product such as transparent white, it will easily turn yellow. If the material is not good, the surface may become foggy or sticky.

Pros
1: Soft and elastic
2: All-round protection, elastic and anti-drop

Cons
1: Dust is not easy to clean
2: Most recycled materials are unsanitary
The TPU material mobile phone case is slowly fading out of our sight, but there are also a few manufacturers on the market that insist on listing the TPU material mobile phone case. This material has good shock absorption, it is soft and not easy to deform, the practicality is relatively strong. However because waste recycled products account for the majority of the material used, the future of TPU is relatively grim.
4. Leather phone case
Good quality leather phone cases are usually made of pigskin and cowhide. Generally, the outer layer of leather is used for skinning and the inner layer is made of PU material to reduce the cost and achieve the visual effect of the leather.
Leather phone case
Leather is also a popular material for phone cases. Compared with ordinary silicone cases, business professionals who work hard in the workplace prefer to use decent mobile phone cases. Leather phone cases offer a more professional and formal appearance for business people who do not wish to project an overly casual image.
Pros:
Business series, good leather feel and style, which is actually the same as the silicone case, except that the outer silicone layer is replaced with leather, which feels more comfortable to hold. The leather is delicate and high-end.

Cons:

Not resistant to high temperature, not easy to maintain – either knows how to maintain, or accept the traces of non-maintenance. In fact, some people do like the natural wear and tear of leather
How to find a reliable and high-quality mobile phone case supplier in the Chinese market?
China produces more than 90% of the world’s mobile phone case accessories, therefore when buying mobile phone cases for your business, look no further than China. Shenzhen city in Guangdong China in particular is one of the best places to source for mobile phone cases in China.
Offline Market VS Alibaba.com
In China, the vast majority of mobile phone case manufacturers are from the Pearl River Delta, such as Shenzhen and Dongguan in Guangdong Province. If you are in Shenzhen, you can visit the SEG Communication Market in Huaqiangbei or Longsheng Mobile Phone Accessories City where there are countless and diverse mobile phone case merchants. Alternatively, due to Covid-19, you might not be able to visit the offline market, so the online B2B platform Alibaba.com may be a better choice. Search for keywords “phone case“ on alibaba.com you may get countless search results related to mobile phone cases. The price is very cheap, and you may place orders directly on this Alibaba. However, many suppliers on the alibaba.com platform are not manufacturers, and their delivery time is usually slow because they will purchase goods from other sources after they get orders and then ship them out after they receive parcels from their suppliers.