Corning Says Devices With Flexible 'Willow Glass' Displays Unlikely to Appear for at Least Three Years

corning_willow_glassWhile The New York Times reported earlier this month that Apple is working on a curved glass smart watch that could potentially make use of Corning's recently-announced bendable Willow Glass, Bloomberg now reports that Corning sees a wait of at least three years before devices using Willow Glass displays will be able to hit the market.

“People are not accustomed to glass you roll up,” [Corning Glass president James] Clappin said after an event marking the opening an $800 million factory for liquid-crystal-display glass. “The ability of people to take it and use it to make a product is limited.”

The Corning, New York-based company is producing the glass and making “a lot of effort” to teach “very big name” customers how to handle the spools, Clappin said, declining to elaborate. The introduction of the glass comes as companies including Google Inc. consider making wearable computing devices.

Clappin noted that Willow Glass may find its way into some simple products as soon as later this year, but that more complex applications such as flexible displays will require substantially more work before they can be brought to market. He also declined to comment on whether Corning had been in discussions with Apple about its rumored smart watch project.

Apple is already a customer of Corning, using the glassmaker's durable Gorilla Glass in its mobile devices. Corning announced its latest Gorilla Glass 3 product last month, offering three times greater scratch resistance and improved strength, and Apple is assumed to be incorporating the new glass into upcoming products.

Top Rated Comments

HarryKeogh Avatar
141 months ago
Still waiting for completely scratch proof glass. My iPhone 5 has heaps of small scratches on the screen.

Me too. As a person who walks around with his iPhone "naked" and carries several carats of loose diamonds in the pocket of his very tight skinny jeans at all times, I need this. Take my money!
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darkslayer13 Avatar
141 months ago
But I REALLLYYYYY wanted to sue for getting broken glass in my wrist...
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
larrybeo Avatar
141 months ago
What About The Rest of It?

Will a Willow Glass product come with a bendable Lith-Ion battery, too? What about a bendable flash drive? I'm confused what the point of a bendable screen is if the rest of the product isn't able to be flexible and bend as well.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bb426 Avatar
141 months ago
Me too. As a person who walks around with his iPhone "naked" and carries several carats of loose diamonds in the pocket of his very tight skinny jeans at all times, I need this. Take my money!

... I wish I just carried carats of diamonds in my pocket. iPhone screen scratches would be the least of my worries.

Don't know bout the very tight skinny jeans though.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bb426 Avatar
141 months ago
Still waiting for completely scratch proof glass. My iPhone 5 has heaps of small scratches on the screen.
I've had mine since day one, without a case, and use it daily. No scratches. What the hell do you do to your phone? :confused:

but you should remember that apple is always years ahead of its competitors when it launches a new category. this pattern may apply to this.
You may be surprised, but competitors are doing a good job lately appealing to consumers. I wouldn't say the proposed "iWatch" should be compared to iPhone or iPad at all either (not that you said that, but I feel like that's where you're going with this "new category" thing).

The whole watch thing will be outdated by the time Apple releases something if they don't go all out on it.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ingot Avatar
141 months ago
Darn it. I wanted a new watch soon. I really did.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
anker new xmas 1

Anker's Cyber Week Sale Enters Final Days With Up to 60% Off Sitewide

Friday December 1, 2023 12:05 pm PST by
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you...
iOS 17

28 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in December's iOS 17.2 Update

Friday December 1, 2023 2:57 am PST by
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen three more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 28 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released this December. 1. Help...
top stories 2dec2023

Top Stories: iOS 17.1.2 Released, NameDrop Misinformation, and More

Saturday December 2, 2023 6:00 am PST by
Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing. This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership,...
General Apps Messages

Green Bubbles on iPhone to Gain These 7 New Features Next Year

Thursday November 30, 2023 9:00 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it will finally support RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting later next year. This change will result in several improvements to the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices. RCS will become the new default standard for messaging between iPhones and Android devices, but these conversations will still have green bubbles like...
m2 macbook air green

Get Apple's M2 MacBook Air and M3 MacBook Pro for Record Low Prices

Friday December 1, 2023 6:59 am PST by
Best Buy is discounting a collection of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models to all-time low prices today. We're tracking these deals below in addition to great discounts on the Apple Pencil 2 and Apple Watch Ultra 1. MacBook Air Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the...
iPhone 16 Mock Header Updated 1

iPhone 16 to Include Action Button Across Entire Lineup

Thursday November 30, 2023 4:08 pm PST by
The release of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max saw the introduction of an entirely new user-configurable button known as the Action button, and now, MacRumors has seen extensive evidence confirming Apple is planning to include the Action button on the entire iPhone 16 range. Designs and plans for the Action button date back to at least 2021, as the button was intended for release alongside hapt...