Samsung Joins Corning To Produce Stronger OLED Glass

Samsung Mobile Display and Corning are toughening up screens for TVs and smartphones

Gorilla Glass maker Corning has signed a deal with Samsung Mobile Display to manufacture a new specialty glass substrate for OLED displays.

The move will combine Samsung’s knowledge of displays with Corning’s Lotus Glass technology to create screens for phones, tablets, TVs and other devices. The venture will be based in South Korea and provide for the needs of Samsung as well as the broader Korean market.

Experts on displays

According to research from NPD DisplaySearch, the partnership should expect to see plenty of business in the future due to the OLED screen boom experienced last year.  Their report states that in 2011, the display manufacturing produced revenues in excess of $4 billion (£2.5bn) and will be earning upwards of $20 billion (£12.6bn) by 2018.

Samsung has already established its presence in the OLED market, using it for Galaxy mobile device family and having showcased several Super OLED televisions at CES 2012.

Similarly ahead in its field, Corning unveiled its Lotus Glass technology last October. The material is designed to be flexible, yet highly resistant to damage, and it is less energy-hungry than previous Corning products.

“Corning and Samsung have a long and successful partnership in the display industry, dating back nearly 40 years to the early days of television,” said Wendell P. Weeks, chairman and CEO of Corning. “Together, we have led the evolution of displays – from the high-growth years of CRT, to our current successful business supplying world-leading substrates for today’s high-definition LCD TVs, and now to the launch of this important new venture to advance OLED technology.”