iPhone Glass Provider Corning Faces EU Antitrust Probe

Apple provider Corning is going through a European Fee-led antitrust probe over potential anticompetitive practices associated to its dominant place within the smartphone cowl glass market, particularly in relation to its Gorilla Glass expertise.

The investigation facilities on considerations that US-based Corning could have abused its market place by adopting exclusivity contracts to stop rival glass makers from competing for enterprise with cellular system producers. The Fee is especially centered on preparations that allegedly required producers to supply “all or almost all” of their specialised alkali-aluminosilicate glass from Corning.

“It’s [a] very irritating and expensive expertise to interrupt a cell phone display screen. Due to this fact, robust competitors within the manufacturing of the duvet glass used to guard such gadgets is essential to make sure low costs and high-quality glass,” mentioned EU competitors chief Margrethe Vestager in a press release. “We’re investigating if Corning, a significant producer of this particular glass, could have tried to exclude rival glass producers, thereby depriving customers from cheaper and extra break-resistant glass.”

Corning’s relationship with Apple has been significantly robust over time, with Apple having invested $495 million within the firm via its Superior Manufacturing Fund between 2017 and 2021. This collaboration led to the event of Ceramic Defend, which Apple describes as its “most superior glass ceramic formulation” within the iPhone 16 lineup, claiming that it’s twice as robust as aggressive smartphone glass.

The partnership has yielded unique advantages for Apple’s gadgets. Whereas opponents like Samsung use customary Gorilla Glass merchandise, together with the current “Gorilla Armor” for the Galaxy S24 Extremely, Apple’s Ceramic Defend expertise stays unique to iPhone fashions since its introduction with the iPhone 12 in 2020. The glass is infused with nano-ceramic crystals at excessive temperatures whereas sustaining the transparency wanted for the show, cameras, and Face ID sensors.

The Fee goals to find out whether or not Corning’s practices have led to greater costs and lowered innovation, but it surely has not set a deadline for the investigation’s completion. If Corning is discovered to have violated EU competitors guidelines, it might face vital penalties. Nonetheless, the corporate may have the chance to handle the Fee’s considerations by providing commitments that might convey the investigation to a detailed.

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