New Improved Smartphone Gorilla Glass, Now With Added Gorilla

Corning Incorporated GLW has unveiled its Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which has a "survival rate" of 80 percent when dropped face-down from 1.6 meters onto "rough, unforgiving surfaces."

"With each successive generation of Corning Gorilla Glass, we have taken cover glass technology to new levels. Gorilla Glass 5 is no exception, extending Corning's advantage in drop performance over competitive glasses," John Bayne, vice president and general manager, Corning Gorilla Glass, said in a press release.

"With many real-world drops occurring from between waist and shoulder height, we knew improving drop performance would be an important and necessary advancement," Bayne noted.

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Corning claims its Gorilla Glass 5 survives drops "up to four times better than competitive glass designs."

The advancement in smartphone cover glass assumes significance as consumers count on them "to deliver damage resistance, optical clarity, touch sensitivity, and protection from drops."

Corning cited a recent global study showing that over 85 percent of smartphone owners have dropped their phones at least once per year, and 55 percent have dropped their phones three or more times.

Furthermore, over 60 percent of respondents reported dropping their devices between shoulder and waist height — the height at which Gorilla Glass has been assessed and proven beneficial.

The glass maker added that its Gorilla Glass technology has been used on more than 4.5 billion devices worldwide, including more than 1,800 product models across 40 major brands.

"Corning Gorilla Glass 5 is commercially available and is expected to be on product models from leading global brands later this year," according to the report. Smartphone makers such as Samsung, HTC, Lenovo, Huawei, LG, Asus And HP have all made devices using the Gorilla glass, coverage from the Verge stated.

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