Corning has been making glasses for Apple’s iPhones since the first generation of this phone, and also supplies glasses for iPads and Apple Watches. However, the company is also behind the Gorilla Glass brand, which is used by many competing phone brands. Apple has never accepted the label. At the same time, he did not indicate what all his glass would last.
But that changed with the launch of the iPhone 12. With it, Apple introduced the Ceramic Shield glass, which it had been working on for four years with Corning and invested $ 450 million in development. The funds went from his Advanced Manufacturing fund, from which he now provided the company with an additional $ 45 million to expand its production capacity and move research and development forward. The investment is also intended to support the maintenance of more than a thousand jobs across Corning’s US operations.
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Ceramic Shield should be stronger than any smartphone glass produced so far. It is formed by mixing nanoceramic crystals into glass; they are harder than most metals. The problem is that ceramics are not usually transparent. However, Corning has developed a unique process in which ceramics are as hard as possible while remaining optically clear. This is also why not only sensors for recognizing the user’s face can pass through the glass, but the camera does not bother the camera either. Thanks to this, iPhones 12 according to Apple should be up to four times more durable than previous generations.
Apple has been investing in its suppliers for a long time. Although Apple often presents this as development grants, it is a form of advance payment to vendors designed to enable companies to accelerate research and production capacity to meet Apple’s needs. At the same time, Apple reserves part of the production capacity of supported companies. This ensures a stable supply and deprives the competition of the chance to gain these technologies.
Already in 2017, he gave almost $ 390 million to Company II-VI, which makes lidars for him. Now Apple has added another $ 420 million. It wants to support more than 700 jobs in four US states.
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