Corning receives $200 million funding from Advanced Manufacturing Fund

Corning Incorporated, a New York based smartphone glass manufacturer famous for its Gorilla Glass, has received $200 million from Advanced Manufacturing Fund, a $1 billion fund launched by Apple and aimed at investing in US-based manufacturing. The capital is expected to be used by the firm in further enhancing its capabilities at its Harrodsburg, Kentucky R&D facility. The two companies have worked closely for roughly a decade, when Apple first pushed Corning to create a chemically strengthened glass for the iPhone. The resulting product, Gorilla Glass, has since become the standard for nearly every smartphone maker out there.

The collaboration has resulted in nearly 1,000 US jobs across Corning’s R&D, manufacturing and commercial functions, including over 400 in Harrodsburg. The funding comes at a time when the national conversation has begun focusing more heavily on an attempt to return manufacturing jobs back to the US. Trump, the US President, regularly name-checked Apple during his presidential campaign, even going so far as suggesting he would essentially force the company to make iPhones in the US. However, it will also be interesting to see how the firm reacts to its other customers as notably almost all the smartphone makers use Corning’s glass in their mobile phones.