Gorilla Glass 4 Can Cater To Demand For Damage Resistant, Thinner Displays

On November 20, Corning introduced the Gorilla Glass 4, which was a significant improvement over Gorilla Glass 3 and also most other competing cover glass in the market. We believe that the characteristics of the glass will ensure that Corning remains the market leader in the consumer electronics cover glass segment by catering to the growing demand for thinner and more damage-resistant devices.

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Growing demand for stronger display protection

Gorilla Glass 4 could not have been launched at a better time, as smartphone manufacturers are increasingly demanding stronger cover glass that can effectively protect the display from scratches or from shattering when dropped. The most recent example is the speculation behind the use of sapphire as cover glass for the iPhone 6, since sapphire was more scratch-resistant than Gorilla Glass, but far more brittle. The speculation was the result of Apple’s (NYSE:AAPL) deal with GT Advanced Technologies (NASDAQ:GTAT), a manufacturer of sapphire crystal products and manufacturing equipment, wherein Apple was funding the creation of a large sapphire crystal fabrication facility. However, neither of the versions of iPhone 6 sported a sapphire cover glass because of sapphire supply issues.

Corning’s Gorilla Glass 4 is claimed to be twice as strong as any other cover glass in the market. ^[1] Also, in a new drop test devised by Corning’s scientists, Gorilla Glass 4 survived the drop 80% of the time, compared to soda glass, which broke every time. In the drop test, devices equipped with Gorilla Glass 4 were dropped from a height of one meter such that the cover glass side fell on a rough surface, which is likely to cause more damage on a cover glass than a smooth surface such as a floor tile. These characteristics should allow Gorilla Glass 4 to effectively address screen breakage from dropping a device, which is one of the biggest issues faced by consumers.

Gorilla Glass 4 could help devices go even thinner

In the past few years, mobile phones have been getting thinner. For example, the original iPhone launched in 2007 was 11.6mm thick, whereas the recently launched iPhone 6 has a thickness of 6.9mm. Thickness of a device has in fact become a selling point.

Gorilla Glass 4’s composition allows it to offer better damage resistance than its predecessor Gorilla Glass 3, at any level of thickness. ^[2] This also means that a thinner Gorilla Glass 4 can offer the same damage resistance as Gorilla Glass 3. If manufacturers are willing to settle for the same kind of damage resistance as Gorilla Glass 3 of 1mm thickness, they could be able to develop a thinner device using Gorilla Glass 4, which would be 20-25% thinner than Gorilla Glass 3.

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1. Corning Redefines the Standard in Damage Resistance With Gorilla® Glass 4, November 20, 2014, www.corning.com [↩]
2. Gorilla Glass 4 Product Information, www.corning.com [↩]