After abandoning many partners, Apple invested $200 million in this company that made glass the ultimate

Recently, Apple announced an investment of $200 million in American glass giant Corning to support Corning's glass research and development, equipment introduction and advanced glass manufacturing.

Corning has been established for more than 160 years. Its official website introduces itself as follows:

For more than 160 years, Corning has used its expertise in special glass, ceramics, and optical physics to develop numerous products and processes that have created new industries and changed human life.

Its products are used in many fields such as electronic products, daily necessities, and automobiles. The most famous one is Corning Gorilla Glass, which was launched in 2007. It has excellent performance in resisting collisions, drops, and scratches. This product was born because of Apple.

According to the biography of Steve Jobs, four months before the release of the iPhone, Jobs was dissatisfied with the slip resistance of the glass used in the iPhone, so he called Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning, hoping that Corning would develop a strong and scratch-resistant glass protective screen for the first generation iPhone, with a required thickness of 1.3 mm. Previously, Corning's tempered glass was mainly used on car windshields.

Corning invested its top R&D talents in developing this glass, but it was not easy to make it in 4 months. The iPhone had already adopted other glass and was assembled and ready for shipment. However, before the release, the "Gorilla Glass" customized by Corning for Apple was finally ready for mass production. After its performance was verified, Jobs insisted on replacing all the first-generation iPhones with Gorilla Glass. Foxconn foremen urgently gathered 8,000 workers to work overtime overnight and completed the replacement of the first batch of iPhone glass within 96 hours.

The day before the iPhone was officially released, Weeks received a handwritten note from Jobs, "We couldn't have done this without you - Steve Jobs." Weeks framed the note and hung it in his office.

Gorilla Glass is now in its fifth generation and has been a partner of Apple for ten years. Its products are used in Apple products such as the iPhone, which has attracted much attention. Gorilla Glass is now also used in car dashboards, windshields, collaborative surfaces, mirrors with interactive functions, and wearable devices, providing a durable and elegant surface. A total of 5 billion devices from more than 40 brands use Gorilla Glass.

The gorilla legend didn't just make the iPhone a success.

It was also the glass supplier for Edison's light bulbs.

It provided the world's first glass for optical fiber, invented the cathode ray tube, the core component of black-and-white televisions, and produced the world's first glass pot that can actually be boiled over a fire. It is not afraid of thermal expansion or contraction, and is still popular all over the world. Its glass is even used in the US military's intercontinental missiles.

In order to cater to the US government's "American Creation and Manufacturing Return Plan", Apple launched a $1 billion fund to invest in American manufacturing when it released its first quarter financial report. Investing in Corning is part of this plan. The long-term goal of this investment is that Apple hopes to develop more advanced glass or new material technologies with Corning to support Apple's layout in areas such as AR and wireless charging technology. AR glasses require lighter glass, and promoting long-distance wireless charging technology means that Apple may abandon the metal back cover and use glass instead. Corning can help Apple achieve this goal.

Interestingly, in 2017, Apple is shedding some of its partners.

Not long ago, foreign media reported that Apple is likely to fully adopt Intel's newly released XMM 7650 chip in iPhone 8 instead of Qualcomm's X16 chip. For Apple, adopting more Intel baseband chips will help it optimize its cost structure and avoid being constrained by Qualcomm. Apple's idea of ​​abandoning Qualcomm has further intensified the conflict between the two parties. Not long ago, Qualcomm also applied to the US government for an import ban on Apple products, which may prevent US users from buying the next generation of iPhones in the future.

In April, it was reported that Apple was developing chips for power management. It sent 80 engineers to California and Munich to develop components called "power management integrated circuits" (PMIC). This news caused the stock price of Dialog Semiconductor, Apple's previous power management chip partner, to plummet. At the same time, Apple's GPU provider Imagination also revealed that Apple is developing its own GPU to reduce costs, increase control over core technologies, and strengthen technological innovation. It is inevitable that Apple will abandon PowerVR GPU.

Obviously, Apple is doing more and more things by itself, and parting ways with previous partners will also bring more disputes. However, the investment in Corning shows that Apple will not abandon all its partners, but is there another possibility: If you don’t accept my investment, I will abandon you? Is Corning, which is not short of money, forced to do so?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.