When Apple was designing the first iPhone, Steve jobs approached Corning Incorporated and asked them to produce a durable and scratch resistant cover glass in time for the iPhone’s release back in 2007. The result? Gorilla Glass. By 2012, Corning announced that over one billion mobile devices worldwide now use Gorilla Glass. Earlier this year, Corning introduced Gorilla Glass 3, the third generation in the product line that has generated over US$ 1 billion since the iPhone debuted.
Corning is just one of many manufacturers in the Global LCD Glass Market that have experienced exploding profit margins in the past few years. This is due in large part to a surge in demand for Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens used for TVs, cellular devices, tablet and computers which is driving the market at a CAGR of 6.6 percent for the 2012-2016 period.
As you can see by the table below, there are quite a few key players in the LCD Glass Market. While there are potential emerging competitors in the market, most of the top vendors are already highly established as market leaders. The top four enterprises, Samsung Corning Precision Materials, Asahi Glass, Nippon Electric Glass and Corning, hold about 94 percent share of the total market. This is because the market is characterized by the presence of high entry barriers, which restrict new players from entering the market.
Since most electronic devices already employ LCD Glass to screen their products, there has been some concern about market saturation. So should investors be worried? In short, absolutely not. Just think about how much the market has progressed since LCD technologies hit the main stream back in 2007. As new electronic devices hit the market, each unit will require cutting-edge display solutions, and LCD glass manufacturers are already hard at work designing new and innovative products to make sure that their products will always be in demand.
For more information, view our 2012-2016 Global LCD Glass Market report.
