Corning’s Innovation to Meet Mobile Demand Will Help Drive Growth

Corning (NYSE:GLW) is embracing mobile with its increasingly visual and intuitive interfaces and believes that this segment will drive its growth in the future. Corning will take advantage of this opportunity by innovating and producing even more cutting edge technology glass which will be thinner, more damage resistant and eco-friendly.

The company reiterated these plans in its annual investor meeting held in New York earlier this month. The company also noted that it is on a path to achieve the stated revenue target of $10B by 2014. In spite of the company’s bullishness about its future growth plans, challenges remain on the profitability front which is being hurt by the declining glass prices. The company is hoping that thinner glass and shorter replacement cycles will help drive the prices higher and bring its profitability back on track. Corning competes with companies like PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) and 3M (NYSE: MMM)

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Innovation in Gorilla & Ultra Slim Flexible Glass

The company is not satisfied with the success of its star product and is striving to drive improvements. It has come up with a new Corning Gorilla Glass 2, which is 20% thinner than Gorilla Glass 1 and has the same industry-leading damage resistance as its predecessor.

The company is also creating an ultra slim flexible glass which will drive improvements in high performance displays. Corning will use its patented fusion glass manufacturing process to produce a slim, flexible glass almost five times thinner than the standard display glass. This will also help the manufacturers to move from the present batch manufacturing process to the continuous roll to roll process. This will unlock an opportunity to manufacture glass using the plastic techniques while retaining the transparency, encapsulation, and high-temperature tolerance of glass.

Optical Fiber, Connectivity Solutions and New Products

The company is innovating in this direction to meet the demand for increasing bandwidth which it believes will be one of the key features of a connected future world. The company’s new wireless mobile access solutions guarantee five bar coverage, flexible capacity allocation and a reduction in installation time and cost. The optical connectivity solutions are also being made faster, lighter and with lower energy consumption.

Corning is also working on a new glass which  kills drug-resistant bacteria and viruses. This will utilize Corning’s expertise in the fields of biochemistry, specialty glass and surface technology. This product, although in its early stages, could be another blockbuster and lead to the growth a new market.