Corning and GTOC Tie Up in 3D Gorilla Glass

Corning Inc. of the U.S., a renowned maker of specialty glass and ceramics, recently announced it's ready with a new three-dimension (3D) glass-forming technology to shape Corning Gorilla Glass, target commercialization of 3D-shaped Gorilla Glass parts in 2014 and work with G-Tech Optoelectronics Corp. (GTOC) of Taiwan to establish a vertically integrated operation on the island.

Product design continues to drive the consumer electronics industry. More than half of the top-10 smartphone manufacturers already market devices that incorporate cover glass with subtle curves, and the demand for even more-dramatic form factors is increasing, Corning said. Corning's 3D-forming technology meets this demand and expands the design possibilities for industrial designers.

The relationship with GTOC allows Corning to provide a “one-roof” solution. “We can now take Gorilla Glass all the way from flat sheet to a finished 3D-shaped product in Asia, expediting turnaround times and minimizing logistical complexity,” said James Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Specialty Materials. “That's a win for Corning and our customers.”

Corning claimed that its 3D-forming technology can achieve precise tolerances and high throughput on a platform that is more economical than alternative two-mold forming methods. This technology uses Gorilla Glass of uniform thickness, assisting designers to introduce thinner and lighter devices and leverage the emergence of conformable displays for mobile and wearable applications.

GTOC is the largest glass-processing service provider in Taiwan who is recognized in the optoelectronics industry for over a decade, focusing on developing core glass-processing technologies and cover-glass manufacturing. The company said that in the future Corning will supply the protective glass for GTOC to process into 3D finished glass. Currently, GTOC owns a monthly production capacity of about 50,000 sheets of 3D molded glass, and the volume will be further expanded with technical and capacity support from Corning.

GTOC's president J.B. Jiang pointed out his company's focus in 2014 will shift to 3D and green-building glass products, because the high demand growth from 3C (computer, communication, and consumer electronics) market no longer exists, and that GTOC's 3D glass focuses on the automotive application market, such as instrument panels, center information display (CID) etc. The glass supplier is scheduled to kick off shipments to European automakers in the second quarter of 2014.