Corning produces ultra-thin bendable glass in Korea

Corning Inc. has built its first integrated supply chain to produce next-generation, ultra-thin bendable glass in South Korea, where it plans to invest a combined $1.5 billion for five years, its Chairman and Chief Executive Wendell Weeks said on Thursday.

It has begun mass production of the advanced foldable substrates in the Asian country under a five-year investment plan, he said during a news conference in Seoul.

The press event was held in commemoration of its 50th anniversary of establishing its first manufacturing facility in South Korea.

“I hope this is just the first of what will become a new platform in many different locations around the world,” he said in reference to the new production facility for the next-generation bendable glass at its Asan plant, South Chungcheong Province.

It was the first time for the US specialty glass maker to make a public announcement about the mass production of its next-generation Gorilla Glass Victus used for smartphone screens and automobile displays.

The ultra-thin bendable glass is so flexible that it can be folded and unfolded hundreds of thousands of times.

It was equipped in some products of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, the latest foldable phone model of the Galaxy series unveiled last month. The bendable substrates will be supplied not only to Korean customers but also other global companies.

Weeks said the ultra-thin bendable glass technology is in its very early stages of development, but will evolve into entirely different formats.

“You can start with something that is small, and then it will transform into something larger and different in shape and in size … an entirely different format,” he told reporters.

He said South Korea will become a global bendable glass manufacturing hub.

Corning produces specialty glass, ceramics and glass used in liquid crystal displays. Its flagship Gorilla Glass has been embedded in Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy series thanks to its high level of scratch resistance.

The new bendable glass can fit into state-of-the-art automotive displays and foldable electronic gadgets with thickness ranging from 30 to 125 micrometers (㎛), and remains flat even after being folded and unfolded hundreds of thousands of times. There is no damage to the folded part.

30 ㎛ is about half or one-third as thick as one strand of hair.

Weeks is scheduled to meet with Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Jay Y. Lee in Asan on Sept, 1, where they are expected to discuss the further strengthening of their business cooperation.

Samsung and Corning launched a joint venture, Samsung Corning Advanced Glass, in 1973 to co-produce glass for black-and-white television picture tubes.

Write to Ye-Rin Choi at rambutan@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.