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In Sunnyvale, July 18, observers gathered around a machine to see if the glass of smartphones that fell more than a meter at a 40-degree angle could survive a fall on rough sandpaper.
A loud "whap" sounded, and the glass found in some inexpensive phones sold in India and China had cracks everywhere on the surface.
"Ooh, did you hear that?" Said Ben Stevens of Corning. Then, Stevens did the same test on the latest version of Corning's smartphone glass, nicknamed Gorilla Glass 6. A piece of the new glass, which had already been dropped 14 times, survived the 15th without any bumps.
Tim Bajarin, president of the analyst firm Creative Strategies, said that he was not surprised after attending the protest. Corning, a New York-based company that manufactures ceramics and glass, has been the leader in providing glass for high-end and mid-range smartphones. The company designed the glass for the first iPhone in 2007 and has been supplying Apple phones since. It is now on 6 billion devices worldwide.
"In terms of numbers, nobody touches them," said Bajarin.
People use their smartphones more than 2,000 times a day, according to John Bayne, Corning's executive, and glass is an essential element. Phones have become thinner over time, and their glass screens are larger and sometimes curved.
"All of this requires glass to work at a higher level," Bayne said. "We are always innovating."
Gorilla Glass 6 survives twice as many blows as the previous iteration when it fell, according to Corning. The samples are already in the hands of big companies and will appear on smartphones this year, Bayne said.
Josh Jacobs, a chief technology officer, declined to say whether the new glass would be on the latest version of the iPhone. Apple also declined to comment.
Jacobs did not disclose the cost of Gorilla Glass.
During a visit to his Sunnyvale lab, Corning demonstrated the tests that he performs on the glass. One is to put it in a container filled with everyday items found in a purse, such as coins, keys and cosmetics, which is rotated up to 45 minutes to see it's going to get scratched.
While countries like the US are saturating with smartphones, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on emerging markets like India. Gorilla Glass 6 will compete with other types of glass, including soda-lime glass cheaper.
Bayne said the glass cover on a smartphone represents a small percentage of the cost of making a phone, and he does not think companies will want to skimp by buying a lower, cheaper glass. He cited the example of an Indian consumer who may have been using a flip phone and who ultimately saves enough to buy a smart phone, and then burst the glass when it falls. He does not think it's a risk that phone makers will want to take.
"It does not make sense to us," Bayne said. – The San Francisco Chronicle / Tribune News Service
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