Corning Teases 'Sapphire-Like' Scratch-Resistant Glass

GT Advanced is out of the sapphire biz, but that does not mean rival Corning will be resting on its laurels. The company announced recently that it is prepping a "sapphire-like" material intended to cut down on the number of scratches that destroy your smartphone screens.

"Since it was introduced in 2007, Corning Gorilla Glass has defined innovation in the cover glass market," Corning Glass Technologies President James Clapping said in a statement. "We have developed a new product that will provide sapphire-like scratch resistance while maintaining the legendary toughness and break resistance of Gorilla Glass."

As CNET noted, TVs and fiber optics are Corning's core business, but "Gorilla Glass has been an important growth area for the company." The material is used on Apple's iPhones and Samsung's Galaxy lineup, and both companies sold in excess of 75 million smartphones in the last quarter.

Corning's most recent innovation, Gorilla Glass 4, launched in November with the promise of twice the toughness of any competitive cover glass on the market. It was specifically designed to address smartphone users' No. 1 concern: screen breakage due to everyday drops.

Not everyone's got butterfingers, though. Some folks are more prone to scratching their screen, be it with something sharp in their pocket or purse, or just by banging it against pointed edges. Which is why rumors about Apple possibly using the scratch-resistant sapphire for its new iPhones was so intriguing.

All signs pointed to sapphire once Apple inked a deal with sapphire producer GT Advanced Technologies in November 2013 for a Mesa, Arizona plant. But after Apple introduced its new iPhones without a sapphire screen, GT filed for bankruptcy. Now, Apple intends to convert that Arizona plant into a data center.

Corning did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.