Corning Project Phire: Upcoming glass will be as good as sapphire in scratch resistance says company

Corning is renowned for its Gorilla Glass displays that is generally seen on flagship phones from Apple and Samsung. While the **Corning Gorilla Glass 4** was announced late last year and will most likely be seen in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6, the company is not resting. Corning has announced Project Phire, which will combine the toughness on the Gorilla Glass with a scratch-resistance which is as good as that of sapphire. According to a report in CNET, the new project was announced in New York at Corning’s investor meeting and the materials will start selling later this year. James Clappin, president of Corning Glass Technologies told the investors that the new product will have the same damage resistance and drop performance of the Gorilla Glass 4 with scratch resistance that approaches sapphire. Corning has made most of its money from TV glass displays and fiber optics, but Gorilla Glass has been a major player in hardened glass for mobile devices. The company has around 3 billion devices which sport Gorilla Glass across the globe. This moves comes after Apple decided to move from Corning glass to synthetic sapphire which is an extremely hard material. While Corning’s Gorilla Glass is used in a lot of mobile devices, a lot of watches, smart and non-smart, use sapphire for its scratch resistance. Apple too plans on using sapphire for its upcoming Watch, which will be out in April. The new Gorilla Glass 4 is said to be even tougher and specifically designed to handle brutal drops and falls. It has been manufactured using Corning’s proprietary fusion draw process that according to the company adds additional durability while maintaining the thinness and optical clarity that Gorilla Glasses are known for.