Samsung partner Corning enters glass substrate market as AI chips boom

Vaughn Hall, Corning's president of the Korea Region, demonstrates wafer thinning to the Korean press at the company's Seoul office on Wednesday [CORNING]

Corning, a specialty glass producer based in New York, is delving into the glass substrate market for semiconductors as demand for advanced chips continues its rapid rise.

“We are providing multiple samples of [glass substrate] to multiple global customers,” said Vaughn Hall, Corning's president of the Korea Region, at a news conference Wednesday at the company's Seoul office, adding that its client base includes firms in Korea.

The press event was Vaughn's first since assuming the role in November 2023.

Samples are being manufactured in Korean facilities as well as other locations, according to Hall.

Glass substrates, which boast more stability and thermal durability than conventional organic substrates, have risen as a new alternative for high-performance computing.

Affiliates of Samsung, LG and SK that are in charge of chip components and materials have jumped into the market recently and attempted to grasp an early lead. Intel will also incorporate glass substrates into future chips.

But Corning has quite a bit of skin in the glass substrate game since demand for the material is expected to exceed that of its existing chip business.

Corning currently supplies glass for the wafer-thinning of dynamic random access memory chips, which use the same glass multiple times. Glass substrates, however, need to be individually deployed for each chipset, which presents a bigger business opportunity.

Corning, a familiar name in Korea as a longtime partner of Samsung Electronics, celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first investment in the country last year. Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong attended the celebratory event.

Corning, at the event, pledged to invest 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in Korea to set up a bendable glass production as well as upgrade its existing manufacturing facility in Asan, South Chungcheong by 2028.

Hall emphasized that Corning Technology Center Korea (CTCK), a research and development (R&D) center located in Asan, will play a vital role in the project.

“CTCK, one of Corning's largest R&D centers, is part of our main R&D center in New York called Corning Sullivan Park,” Hall said. “And that's really critical because that's where a lot of our scientists do real R&D. The one in Korea supports multiple businesses, and one example of that is the Gorilla Glass business.”

Gorilla Glass is a thin, scratch-resistant glass trademarked by Corning which has been deployed on Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphone series.

“That is one of the reasons the Korea region is very important for us,” Hall said.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]