If you go to Corning Inc’s website, you’ll see a company advertises the seemingly indestructible Gorilla Glass as being available for LCD TV sets, though to this indicate, no major manufacturer has taken up this tantalizing suggest. That’s all about to shift, apparently, as Corning has recently announced skeleton to massively enhance the prolongation genius (see press recover after a mangle and is now presaging it’ll secure the initial understanding this fall. The benefits of going Gorilla are increased durability, strength as well as blemish insurgency, that some have been arguing could be the large selling indicate to display makers penetrating on you do away with plastic bezels and exposing edge-to-edge glass surfaces. Of march, the waste is which we’d have to pay up to $60 more for the panel with a extra-tough stuff inside, but then having the option is better than not, right?
Show full PR textCorning Announces New Capacity Investments
Expansions driven by strong direct for LCD substrates and Gorilla® potion
Planning full LCD glass production at brand-new Beijing trickery

CORNING, N.Y., July 21, 2010 – Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) announced currently which the board of directors has authorized the capital output plan to expand a company’s LCD glass as well as Gorilla® potion manufacturing in response to strong marketplace demand.

The company will invest approximately $800 million to construct a brand-new LCD potion substrate trickery in a People’s Republic of China. With a support of the Beijing municipal supervision, Corning will fix up a new facility in the Beijing Digital TV Industry Park inside of the Beijing Economic Technological Development Area. The manufacturing plant will have up to Generation 8.5 glass-melting and finishing capabilities. Groundbreaking is planned for September of this year, with production slated to begin in the initial half of 2012.

Corning’s investments will additionally embody construction projects in alternative regions to enhance genius for two of the flagship products: EAGLE XG® LCD potion substrates as well as Gorilla potion. As previously announced, a association has restarted an expansion project at the Taichung (Taiwan) LCD glass trickery as well as is ramping up idled capacity at its trickery in Shizuoka, Japan to produce Gorilla potion for various applications. The association now intends to enhance further in Taichung under the new capital output devise, with one more capacity projected to come upon line in the first half of 2012.

“These investments will position Corning to constraint significant brand-new sales opportunities from rapidly augmenting demand for the Gorilla potion, whilst continuing to encounter a demand for the EAGLE XG products,” Wendell P. Weeks, chairman and chief executive military officer, pronounced. Corning expects Gorilla potion sales to exceed $200 million this year in the Specialty Materials shred, as well as estimates which sales could reach approximately $1 billion annually by 2011. Gorilla glass is a protecting cover potion which provides higher repairs as well as scratch resistance upon hundreds of models of handheld devices as well as intelligent phones.

“The need for one more Gorilla glass genius is formed in part on the product’s new application as a TV cover potion,” Weeks explained. “Gorilla glass has already been embraced by report technology as well as handheld device makers, and the further of a TV cover glass application creates a tremendous opportunity for further growth.”

LCD substrate expansion
“We goon to forecast clever growth for LCD glass for the subsequent several years. This expansion will be driven essentially by continued market invasion of LCD televisions, with poignant gains in Asia as well as South America, and an took off record deputy cycle in some-more mature tellurian markets. Therefore, we are creation a appropriate genius investments to take value of this projected direct,” said James P. Clappin, president, Corning Display Technologies, Asia.

“China is not usually a single of the world’s leading consumers of LCD televisions; it is additionally staid to turn a vital producer of LCD panels for TV applications within a next multiform years. We have been vehement to be the partial of this emerging market,” Clappin added.

“China is quickly becoming a personality in LCD row development, and Corning will be good positioned to grow with the China marketplace by these capacity expansions,” noted Eric S. Musser, chief senior manager officer of Corning Greater China. “These investments, total with the earlier announcement to enhance prolongation of auto emissions-control products as well as settle the life scholarship presence in China, underscore Corning’s long-term commitment to the China market.”

The company noted which continued higher-than-expected sell direct for LCD televisions, laptops, as well as desktop computers has resulted in an softened outlook for these consumer electronic products throughout a residue of a year. Therefore, Corning right away believes that annual LCD glass direct could be during the aloft end of the forecasted operation of 2.9 billion square feet to 3.1 billion block feet this year.

As the result of these investments, Corning has increasing the forecast of capital expenditures to about $1.2 billion this year, up from its prior estimate of $1 billion. The association also expects which capital expenditures in 2011 will be higher than this year’s current forecast. Corning will yield additional details upon the investments during its second-quarter monetary results financier discussion call upon Wednesday, July 28.