US-based specialty glass supplier Corning reportedly plans to invest KRW 2 trillion (US$1.5 billion) to set up a bendable glass manufacturing plant in South Korea, targeting immense business opportunities from mobile phones, IT and automotive applications.
According to reports from Korean media outlets ET News and The Elec, Corning chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks announced at a press conference held during his recent visit to South Korea that the company will move to build a plant in the country to produce next-generation ultra-thin bendable glass. It is reported that Weeks' trip there was primarily for the 50th anniversary of Corning's investment in the country. In 1973, the company entered the South Korean market by setting up a television glass factory there in cooperation with Samsung Electronics.
It is reported that during his recent stay in South Korea, Weeks held meetings with conglomerate leaders including Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Eui-sun and Samsung Group chairman Lee Jae-yong to discuss related collaboration models and details.
The bendable glass that Corning plans to produce in South Korea is, as the name suggests, glass that can be bent or folded. Ordinary glass is prone to breaking when folded, but this newly developed glass undergoes a special manufacturing process, making it resilient to repeated bending without damage. It also possesses the ability to withstand external impacts and is sometimes referred to as ultra-thin glass (UTG) or foldable glass, according to industry experts.
They believe that the increasing popularity of foldable smartphones and the evolution of form factors for tablets and laptops toward greater diversity in size and shape have prompted Corning to establish a factory dedicated to producing bendable glass. The reason for Corning's decision to choose South Korea as the top-choice location for the manufacturing facility is that there are experienced manufacturers of foldable and bendable display panels there.
According to Omdia data, Samsung Display (SDC) ranked first in terms of shipments of foldable OLED panels, with approximately 13.9 million pieces in 2022, primarily used in foldable smartphones. LG Display (LGD) has also commercialized its foldable OLED panels for use in notebooks.
Compared to the "rigid" characteristics of LCD panels, which make it difficult to change design styles, OLED panels use flexible substrates such as polyimide (PI), able to meet design requirements such as being bendable and rollable. Furthermore, as automotive displays expand to 20 and 30 inches, designs are also starting to shift towards curved or rollable panels, according to panel industry sources.
In addition to foldable IT products, Corning has announced that its bendable glass will also target the automotive market. Its chairman Weeks has revealed that Corning is collaborating with companies such as LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor to accelerate the arrival of a better era in automobiles.
Corning, founded in 1851, has been a renowned glass manufacturing and research company. According to the company's website, it currently employs over 48,000 people worldwide and has established 10 global research centers in regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia.
Article translated by Willis Ke
