Corning launched Gorilla Glass NBT on Monday in
an effort to ride a potential touch laptop upgrade cycle, but the biggest wild
card remains the reception to Windows 8.
In a statement,
Corning said Gorilla Glass NBT will be included in touch notebooks and amount
to 1 percent to 2 percent of the total cost of a system. Corning is obviously
trying to replicate its smartphone and tablet success with Gorilla Glass.
The perks with Gorilla
Glass on a laptop go like this:
· Scratch resistant.
· Stronger screens that can stand up to some abuse.
· Better customer satisfaction since scratched screens are pain.
· New potential designs that utilize Gorilla Glass to deliver
Corning said its research
shows that complaint rates for scratched screens on notebooks are four times
higher than other mobile devices. Overall, Gorilla Glass NBT will be included
on several notebook designs, but the biggest wild card will be PC sales
overall.
Yes, touch laptops are
nice. Yes, Windows 8.1 may boost sales. And yes, tech buyers are forgoing PCs
for tablets. Gorilla Glass NBT is a welcome addition to the PC landscape, but
it won't be enough to drive sales, which so far have been anemic.
Nevertheless, analysts
are expecting the Gorilla Glass NBT reception to be helpful to sales. Morgan
Stanley analyst Elud Gelblum said in a research note Monday that Corning's
specialty materials unit, which houses Gorilla Glass, should get "get a
material boost from touch notebooks running Windows 8 and new smartphone model
launches."
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