In the morning of March 1, Beijing time, Corning, a glass supplier of iPhone screens, said that it will take at least three years to produce flexible displays made of the latest willow materials.
James Clappin, President of Corning, said major manufacturers had not yet developed products that were entirely made of willow glass. Willow glass can be rolled up like a newspaper, based on which radian or flexible displays can be developed.
"People are not used to glass that can be rolled up, and the way users use it means that there are limitations to this product right now," he says. "He also said that Corning has made a lot of efforts to help large customers understand how to use this kind of rolled up glass. Google and other companies are developing wearable computing devices, so such glass materials will be useful.
This year, willow glass will be used in simple products, such as flexible fences for solar panels and films behind some touch panels, klepin said. Last June, Corning provided samples of flexible glass to manufacturers of mobile phones, tablets and televisions. James flats, the company's chief financial officer, said at the time that Corning hoped such a product would be available in 2013.
Google is currently developing computers embedded in glasses and plans to launch the product in 2014. Two sources said Apple has set up a team of about 100 product designers and is developing wristwatch devices to realize some functions of the iPhone and iPad. Klepin declined to say whether Corning had any contact with apple on the project.
Corning has 161 years of history, and the rapid growth of smartphone sales has driven the company's performance growth. Corning said its gorilla glass, launched in 2007, is used in more than one billion devices worldwide. Corning sells gorilla glass to 33 electronics manufacturers, including Samsung and Sony. The glass is used in more than 900 devices.
Last year, sales of gorilla glass rose 44% year-on-year to $1 billion. Wendell weeks, Corning's CEO, said this month that it was the second most profitable and fastest-growing product in Corning's history.
Klepin said the rise in demand for touch-screen laptops will drive faster sales of gorilla glass. "We've sold a lot of gorilla glass used in mobile phones, but laptops are 10 times bigger and 10 times larger than smartphones," he says. The sales of glass manufacturers are calculated by area. The larger the area, the better for us. '