Mike Wuerthele
Apple announced that it has awarded Corning an additional $250 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund, bringing the total to $450 million.
Apple has now invested over $1 billion in American companies from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund. This has depleted the entire $1 billion initial investment, and is starting to use the $5 billion it subsequently committed to spend. In addition to the $450 million now awarded to Corning, Finisar has received $390 million, and the Elysis aluminum partnership has been granted $10 million.
"Apple and Corning's rich history dates back more than a decade, and our partnership revolutionized glass and transformed the technology industry with the first iPhone," said Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer. "This award underscores Apple and Corning's shared belief in the vital role that ingenuity plays in creating industry-leading products, and the pride that both companies take in applying American innovation and advanced manufacturing to solve some of the world's toughest technology challenges."
Apple says that every generation of iPhone has used Corning glass, including the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 pro.
"We're proud of what we've achieved through our collaboration with Apple, and excited by the new opportunities this additional investment creates," said Wendell P. Weeks, Corning's chairman, chief executive officer and president. "This Advanced Manufacturing Fund award will allow us to develop groundbreaking new glass innovations, while also expanding our manufacturing capabilities. Most importantly, our ongoing collaboration allows us to create vital new capabilities for end users and continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible well into the future."
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the fund on May 3, 2017. The fund goes beyond Apple's $1 billion investment in SoftBank's Vision Fund, a $100 billion resource created to accelerate the development of technology around the world. Some $50 billion of the Vision Fund will be directed toward U.S. endeavors.
Corning's initial award was the first from the fund. That $200 million award was granted later in May 2017.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
26 Comments
That’s great! And a great program to invest in America and Americans.
I visited Corning, New York, before. This city has the same name as the company Corning. This entire town exists because of Corning. Corning museum is very interesting and educational. They make anything that has to do with glass .... from glassware to fiber optic to car windshields to space shuttle windshields and everything else in between. This American company is invincible.
A guy would like to think that Corning would have been selling Gorilla Glass at a profit over the past 10 years. Enough profit to fund research and development.
Why would Corning need Apple's money? Seems like irresponsible management to me. Seems like the fruit company bought Gorilla Glass in the past and at their suggestion for something different, has to pay some more.
I don't understand.