Sourcing
23 October 2026
In a phone case programme the injection mould is worth more than the first order. It is also the part of the deal most often left to a sentence in a quotation. When the relationship ends — for price, for quality, for anything — the answer to "who owns the tool" decides whether you can move production or whether you start again from a drawing.
A phone case mould is a steel tool cut to a specific phone model, with a cavity, a core, cooling channels, ejector pins and a runner system. Cutting it takes weeks of programming and EDM work; the marginal cost of the next ten thousand cases is small by comparison. Whoever holds the tool holds the ability to produce.
That is also why tooling is the part of a quotation where a factory has the most room to be vague.
| Model | How it looks on the quote | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Lump sum | A separate tooling line, paid before T1 | Ownership transfer clause, payment milestones |
| Amortised | No tooling line, higher unit price for N units | When amortisation ends and who owns it then |
| Free with volume | Tooling absorbed against a committed quantity | What happens if you order less than committed |
All three are legitimate. The problem is the fourth, informal model: tooling that is "included" with no written terms at all, which in practice means the factory owns it and you own a dependency.
A clause that says "the mould belongs to the buyer" is a start, not an answer. It needs to cover:
First-shot samples are usually cosmetically imperfect and structurally close. Approving on a photograph is how importers end up with a case that fits the phone but not the camera ring.
At T1, ask for:
T2 is where cosmetics should be production-representative. If a supplier wants to skip T2 and go straight to mass production, the risk is yours and the saving is theirs.
Two scenarios, both common. In the first, you move to another moulder and want the tool. Plan for it: steel is heavy, crated and shipped by sea, and the receiving moulder will want the drawings to set it up. In the second, the factory closes or is acquired, and your tool is inside a building you have no access to. The only protection is a written clause plus a record that you paid for it.
It is also worth deciding in advance what happens to the tool if the phone model is discontinued. A mould for a two-year-old handset has scrap value; agreeing the disposal or conversion in advance avoids an argument later.
We run 93 moulds in-house across 21 phone models, which is why the catalogue has 293 SKUs — one mould, several style lines and colourways. For an OEM style we do not hold, tooling is quoted as a separate line with a lead time, and ownership passes to the buyer on payment, with drawings handed over at T1. We would rather write that down at quotation stage than discuss it during a dispute.
If you are weighing a new mould against an existing style line, the catalogue shows what is already cut, and wholesale terms covers how a first order is structured.
Typically several weeks from approved 3D data to T1, depending on cavity count, surface finish and how many steel inserts are needed. The schedule is driven by EDM and polishing, not by assembly.
Yes, and it is common. Ownership and location are separate. What matters is that the tool is identified, marked as yours, and covered by a clause that lets you take it without a release fee.
It is cheaper up front and more expensive if volumes fall short. Do the arithmetic on the committed quantity before choosing; the break-even is usually obvious once you model it.