Apple's relationship with Corning: Jobs wrote a letter of thanks, Cook gave $450 million

We couldn't have done this without you.

So read a memorial note on the desk of Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning, the maker of Gorilla Glass; the note was signed Steve Jobs.

Even today, after Steve Jobs passed away, Apple and Corning still maintain a very close cooperative relationship. From the first iPhone released in 2007 to the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro launched last week, all iPhone devices use Corning glass. On the other hand, Apple has also contributed its own strength to the research and development of Corning glass.

In May 2017, Apple announced the establishment of a $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund. According to Apple officials, the fund aims to promote and support innovative production and high-skilled jobs, and promote a new era of technology-driven manufacturing in the United States.

Leifeng.com learned that after the establishment of the fund, Apple took the lead in paying Corning $200 million in innovation funds to support the latter's research and development in glass technology; it also helped Corning create nearly 1,000 new jobs.

Last year, Apple increased the size of its Advanced Manufacturing Fund from an initial $1 billion to $5 billion. Just yesterday, September 17, 2019, Apple announced on its official website that Corning has received another $250 million investment from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund (AFM) to develop the most advanced glass technology for the next generation of consumer products.

Wendell Weeks, Corning chairman, CEO and president, said:

We’re proud of the many accomplishments we’ve achieved working with Apple, and we’re excited about the new opportunities this additional investment will bring. Investments from the Advanced Manufacturing Fund will allow us to develop even more groundbreaking new glass while also expanding our manufacturing capabilities. Most importantly, our continued collaboration will ultimately create important new capabilities for our users and continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the future.

So far, Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund has invested $1 billion in Apple suppliers, of which Corning has received a total of $450 million in two investments, nearly half. Other suppliers that have received Apple's investment include Finisar, which is mainly responsible for driving Apple's Face ID and portrait photography mode technology.

As Apple COO Jeff Williams said in the statement of this investment, the partnership between Apple and Corning can be traced back more than a decade.

In 2007, less than half a year after the first iPhone was launched, Steve Jobs was still at a loss as to how to solve the scratch resistance problem of the device’s touch screen. The original iPhone had a layer of plastic covering the touch screen, but Steve Jobs was not satisfied with the protective cover made of this material. He was worried that the device’s touch screen would be scratched by the keys and coins in the user’s pocket.

Later, Steve Jobs listened to the advice of his friends and called Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning, to ask if he could design a glass cover for the new Apple product to prevent scratches and breakage. Wendell Weeks told Steve Jobs that Corning had developed a material called "Diamond Glass" in the 1960s, which was originally used to make car windshields and prison windows; but due to lack of market, the glass made of this material had been discontinued long ago.

Steve Jobs was not discouraged. He even decided to use this glass as the screen material for the new iPhone against all odds, and hoped that Corning would produce as much "Diamond Glass" as possible within 6 months. However, in the eyes of Corning, Steve Jobs' request was simply unrealistic, because, under normal circumstances, Corning needs nearly two years of research and development to bring new products to market; and the thinnest diamond glass Corning can produce is 4mm, while Steve Jobs' requirement is 1.3mm.

Fortunately, Corning had experience in developing "Gorilla Glass" and finally withstood the pressure and completed the task assigned by Apple. This precision-made "Gorilla Glass", later known as Gorilla Glass, eventually became the standard for all iPhones, and through repeated upgrades, it brought users a more perfect user experience.

The day before the first iPhone was released, Steve Jobs wrote a note to Wendell Weeks, saying, “We couldn’t have done this without you.” Later, the note was framed and placed in Wendell Weeks’ office as a souvenir.

In fact, Apple also made Corning successful. In 2012, the annual revenue of Corning's Gorilla Glass product line soared from zero to $1 billion; as of 2014, Gorilla Glass had been used in 3 billion devices worldwide; as of 2017, the tenth anniversary of Corning and Apple's cooperation, Corning had delivered 58 square miles of Gorilla Glass, equivalent to 28,000 football fields. Apple also said that in the past decade, the company has spent nearly $3 billion on Corning's glass.

Now, Gorilla Glass is the default supplier for almost all well-known mobile phone manufacturers.

Although the cooperation with Apple made Corning and its Gorilla Glass soar to fame, Corning had experienced several periods of glory and was on the verge of bankruptcy several times before that.

In 1851, the predecessor of Corning, Bay State Glass Co., was established. After two relocations, the company finally settled in Corning, New York, and was renamed "Corning" in 1869. In 1879, Corning turned the light bulb invented by Edison into a commodity; in 1947, Corning first invented and mass-produced television picture tubes; in 1970, Corning first invented and manufactured the world's first optical fiber; in 1980, Corning went public.

However, Corning's development was not all smooth sailing. The bursting of the Internet bubble in 2001 directly destroyed the optical fiber communications industry, and Corning, which was the main business, lost $5.5 billion; its stock price also plummeted from $113 to $1.1. Even in such a difficult period, Corning did not cut R&D expenses. At the same time, Corning developed a cover glass material that can be used for LCD screens, saving the company from difficulties.

However, the good times did not last long. Starting in 2011, the LCD monitor and TV market began to shrink, and Corning's stock price plummeted by 50% as profits and market share decreased. In 2012, profits from the LCD glass business fell by 32%. But at this time, Gorilla Glass's revenue had become a new growth engine.

Corning has been on the verge of bankruptcy twice but has stood up again, which is largely due to Corning's emphasis on research and development. Wendell Weeks once proudly declared that research and development is Corning's fastest growing corporate activity. Corning continues to invest 10% in innovation every year. Even in the most difficult period like the Great Depression, research investment has not shrunk but increased.

JE Hollis, global business and technical director of Gorilla Glass, also said in an interview with the media:

Whether we thrive or fail, Corning will never slack off in research and development, which is why we have been able to survive for more than 160 years. We are always looking for a balance - looking to the future while being able to build on our current development. This is how we will continue for the next 160 years.

All in all, as a company, Corning has withstood more than 160 years of ups and downs through continuous innovation; and Apple has established a cooperative relationship with Corning for more than ten years and is still investing in the latter. Presumably, the cooperative friendship that has continued from the Jobs era will continue.