- AGC to Set Up New Chemical Strengthening Facility in Japan -

Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (hereinafter AGC) will newly set up a chemical strengthening facility for Dragontrail (TM), specialty glass used as cover glass for smart phones and tablet PCs, at its Kansai Plant in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. This new chemical strengthening facility can handle up to sixth-generation (1850mm x 1500mm) glass, enabling the efficient production of thinner next-generation touchscreens. Operation is scheduled to begin in March 2013.

Conventionally, touchscreens of smart phones and tablet PCs have been triple-layered, consisting of a sheet of  cover glass, a touch sensor and a display. Recently, however, demand for double-layered touchscreens, which can make the touchscreen even thinner, is expected to grow, and a technology (*1) to attach the touch sensor into the cover glass is drawing attention as a means to manufacture double-layered touchscreens.

A key to efficient production of double-layered touchscreens is large-size chemically strengthened glass. A large number of cover glass with a built-in touch sensor can be manufactured at a time by neatly arranging touch sensors on a large sheet of chemically strengthened glass and cutting the glass into pieces of the intended size. As the touchscreens manufactured based on this method are increasingly adopted for use in smart phones and tablet PCs in 2013 onward, AGC's high-quality G6-size chemically strengthened Dragontrail manufactured at the new facility will contribute to the creation of even thinner smart phones, tablet PCs, Ultrabook (*2) and other touchscreen devices.

Dragontrail, a  damage and scratch-resistant specialty glass, has been adopted by over 20 companies for use as cover glass and used in some 60 smart phones and tablet PC models. AGC will continue to create new value for its customers by making effective use of the outstanding performance of Dragontrail.

(*1) The cover glass integration technology is referred to as One Glass Solution (OGS).

(*2) Ultrabook is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.  

About Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.

The company is headquartered in Tokyo. Its President & CEO is Kazuhiko Ishimura.