Apple and Corning announced a major expansion of their long-standing partnership to make precision glass for Apple products. Apple is making a new USD 2.5 billion commitment to produce all of the cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch in Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, USA, manufacturing facility. This means that 100 percent of the cover glass on iPhone and Apple Watch units sold worldwide will be made in the U.S. for the first time.
Corning is creating the world’s largest and most advanced smartphone glass production line at the Harrodsburg facility. Corning will now dedicate this entire facility to manufacturing for Apple, which will help increase Corning’s manufacturing and engineering workforce in Kentucky by 50 percent. The two companies will also open a new Apple-Corning Innovation Center at the Harrodsburg plant. The Innovation Center will play a key role in the development and engineering of advanced materials and next-generation manufacturing platforms for Apple’s future generations of products.