Flexible glass more or less contradicts everything we think we know about glass. It is ultra-thin, strong and (obviously) flexible. It combines the scratch resistance and rigidity properties of plastic, forming a rollable and even wearable glass.
Consumer demand for slick, lightweight, scratch resistant displays is driving growth in the Global Flexible Glass Market at a CAGR of 50.21 percent from 2014-2018.
Corning Inc. is King of the Hill in the Flexible Glass Market
Corning Inc. was established in 1851 and has 160 years of experience in materials science and process engineering. It operates in five segments: Display technologies, telecommunications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences.
But it’s the phenomenal success of their Gorilla Glass that has made Corning the market leader, beating out other heavyweights such as Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. and Schott AG.
Gorilla Glass is the foundation the Corning empire has grown on in the past few years. It is thin, light and spectacularly damage resistant. Chances are, if you have a smartphone, tablet or laptop from most major brands, then you’re holding some Gorilla Glass.
Dell, HP, HTC, LG and Samsung are all Corning devotees, amongst others. Even past iterations of Apple’s iPhone have used it. And uptake in new technology like the Pebble Steel smartwatch is keeping Corning at the top of the market.
Unbreakable Despite Competition
Even considering the widespread adoption of Gorilla Glass, Corning’s market share is being threatened as heavy hitter Apple seems to be looking towards GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) and their Sapphire product for damage-resistant display solutions.
However, in a recent Q&A session with Corning top management, published by Seeking Alpha, Senior Vice President Tony Tripeny alluded to the fact that Corning is not altogether worried about GTAT or Sapphire.
“When we look at it, we see a lot of disadvantages of Sapphire versus Gorilla Glass. It’s about 10 times more expensive. It’s about 1.6 times heavier. It’s environmentally unfriendly. It takes about 100 times more energy to generate a Sapphire crystal than it does glass.”
He goes on to say that Sapphire transmits less light, which will translate into either dimmer devices or shorter battery life and while Sapphire is scratch resistant, Gorilla Glass can still withstand about 2.5 times the pressure.
And even if Gorilla Glass takes a bit of a hit, Corning has other high performance glass products to pick up the slack, including Willow Glass and the high-performance Lotus Glass.
The super flexible Willow Glass has been in the news recently, as rumors swirl around the possibility of an Apple smartwatch that uses the glass for its display.
While it’s little more than a rumor at this point in time, the thinness, strength and flexibility of Willow Glass is ready-made for slim displays and smart surfaces—perfect for smart watches.
To continue competing so ferociously in the market, the company bigwigs know they have to be as flexible as the glass they peddle. Corning is continuously changing its business strategy, looking for new avenues for collaboration, and evolving its Gorilla Glass for applications in new markets and products.
For more market insights, view our Global Flexible Glass Market 2014-2018 report.
