'All glass' iPhone on the way

There has been speculation for several months that Apple was considering a radical change. Photo / iStock

Apple is preparing to manufacture an 'all glass' iPhone according to the chief executive of the company which makes its chassis.

Allen Horng, chairman and chief executive of long-standing iPhone chassis maker Catcher Technology said Apple will make its 2017 iPhone using a glass casing, Forbes.com reported.

However the glass body will prove expensive, Mr Horng is reported to have told shareholders.

There has been speculation for several months that Apple was considering a radical change.

KGI Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has successfully predicted previous Apple trends said the design would be incorporated in the iPhone 7s.

It is also expected to feature OLED screens, which are brighter than traditional LED screens and use less power.

However the iPhone 7s is not expected to be released until early 2017.

The next iteration, the iPhone 7, which is due to be released in September, is not anticipated to represent as radical a departure from existing models.

It will come at a challenging time for the company with iPhone sales falling for the first time since the product was launched..

Revenue for the first quarter of 2016 fell by 13 per cent compared with the same period in 2015.

There is a growing belief that sales of iPhones may have reached saturation point with the company also facing stiff competition from manufacturers or cheaper Android devices.