We’ve written before about the inroads Corning Inc.’s Gorilla Glass is making in consumer electronics. Gorilla Glass has also caught the attention of AP business writer Ben Dobbin as well as ACerS’ leaders who are honoring the company with one of the Society’s 2010 Corporate Technical Achievement Awards.
Dobbin’s story provides an interesting tale of how, though invented in 1962, Corning’s special glass wasn’t a star product for the company until the past few years when it has received widespread acceptance as the gold standard for smart phones and, more recently, LCD screens, because of its strength and durability (read: thin, light and break/scratch resistant). LCD glass is a great cash cow for Corning and accounts for the largest portion of the company’s 2009 sales.
He also notes that the market is still growing for Gorilla Glass:
“Now, the latest trend in TVs could catapult it to a billion-dollar business: Frameless flat-screens that could be mistaken for chic glass artwork on a living-room wall.
Because Gorilla is very hard to break, dent or scratch, Corning is betting it will be the glass of choice as TV-set manufacturers dispense with protective rims or bezels for their sets, in search of an elegant look.
. . .
Corning is in talks with Asian manufacturers to bring Gorilla to the TV market in early 2011 and expects to land its first deal this fall. With production going full-tilt in Harrodsburg, Ky., it is converting part of a second factory in Shizuoka, Japan, to fill a potential burst of orders by year-end.
‘That’ll tell you something about our confidence in this,’ said Corning President Peter Volanakis.”
Gorilla Glass is currently used by more than 17 major brands and is designed into more than 85 devices. Corning, however, is tight lipped about what these name brands are, but it is pretty much of an open secret that Apple uses the glass in its iPhone line.
ACerS’ CTAA award recognizes a single outstanding technical achievement made by an ACerS corporate member in the field of ceramics or glass. To win, the achievement must show significant technical merit, represent a gain to society as a whole and be a viable commercial product. Besides recognizing Corning’s Gorilla Glass, ACerS is also presenting a CTAA to GE Healthcare for development of its Gemstone Scintillator.
The awards will be presented at the ACerS Annual Meeting banquet on Oct. 18, 2010, which will be held in conjunction with the MS&T’10 conference in Houston, Texas. Representatives of the companies will also present details of Corning’s and GE’s technology and product commercialization at a special technical session at MS&T.
For more stories about Gorilla Glass and other Corning-related news, see:
Ceramic, glass content of Apple next-gen iPhone may be settled today
Flexible glass to challenge LCDs in electronic devices
Video: Glass as a design material in electronics
Alfred opens glass, ceramic nanotechnology center
ARPA-E announces $106M in new awards for electrofuels, batteries and clean-coal projects
Video: Linda Pinckney on Corning’s glass–ceramic applications
U.S. glassmaking down, some pockets remain strong
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