Not surprisingly, Taiwan-based HTC is reportedly unpacking a worthy challenger to Apple's iPhone 5S and Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini. It will be a dynamo of a smartphone that is set for a June 2013 release date, reports said.

Right now, the rumoured handset goes by the name HTC M4 and the most solid proof that consumers will actually lay their hands on the device is the report on its body-make - a metal-alloy chassis and part of which will be supplied by Catcher Technology, DigiTimes said in a report.

The same report indicated that HTC is looking to ship out some 700,000 M4 units in the months ahead with the company eyeing a June rollout or a few months after its new flagship, the HTC One, commenced its global distribution.

Catcher will be the sole provider for the M4's body components supply, a move intended to prevent the production glitch that delayed the One's commercial availability.

As the stripped-down version of the power-packed HTC One, how the M4 will measure up with handsets like the iPhone 5S and the Galaxy S4 Mini on the same specs range?

Basing on the M4 muscles provided by BGR News, the device heads right into the mid-range smartphone class that will draw much if its power from a Snapdragon 400 chip, which will steam roll to a top speed of 1.2GHz with generous help from a 1GB of RAM.

It is a 720p handset with a 4.3-inch screen display plus the near camera attributes of the HTC One, which highlights the new snapping flavour in UltraPixel terms. All the image and video files generated can be stored on the internal memory of 16GB.

The M4 will stand on Android JellyBean 4.2.2 with Sense 5 on top. HTC appears to favour a June release date for the new gadget, which will be followed shortly by a worldwide availability.

It was first rumoured that the mobile phone is the upgraded version of the Facebook-centric HTC First but fresh signs are pointing to the likelihood that it is a mini HTC One, with designs to give the iPhone 5S and the S4 Mini a good fight.