Apple and Corning have expanded their partnership to make precision glass for Apple products.
All of the cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch will be manufactured in Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, USA production facility.
Apple said it was making a $2.5 billion commitment to the facility.
Corning will create what it said would be the world’s largest smartphone glass production line at the Harrodsburg facility.
Corning will now dedicate this entire facility to manufacturing for Apple, which will help increase Corning’s manufacturing and engineering workforce in Kentucky by 50%.
The two companies will also open a new Apple-Corning Innovation Center at the Harrodsburg plant.
The centre will play a key role in the development and engineering of materials and manufacturing platforms for Apple’s future generations of products.
These projects are part of Apple’s broader commitment to spend and invest more than $600 billion in the US economy over the next four years.
This includes Apple’s American Manufacturing Program (AMP), which will invest across America and incentivise global companies to onshore production and manufacture even more of Apple’s components in the United States.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said: “Thanks to the power of American manufacturing, any customer anywhere in the world who buys a new iPhone or Apple Watch will be holding precision glass made right here in Kentucky.
"We’re grateful to the President and his administration for their support for American manufacturing, and we’re excited for the innovation this investment will unlock.”
Wendell Weeks, Corning’s CEO, said: “We developed and made the glass for the very first iPhone in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, 18 years ago.
"With this new multibillion-dollar commitment from Apple and the lighting of our most advanced manufacturing platform, we are hiring more people and bringing 100% of Apple’s cover glass needs for iPhone and Apple Watch to the original home of the innovation.”
