Asahi Glass Develops World's Thinnest Glass Substrate For Touchscreens

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

What’s almost as important as sturdy touchscreens? Thin touchscreens, and Tokyo-based Asahi Glass can now claim the bragging rights for having developed [press release in English, PDF] the world’s thinnest soda-lime glass substrate for touchscreens. In other words, we will soon be able to see thinner and lighter smartphones and tablets.

Asahi says that at 0.28 mm, its product is 15% thinner than the currently thinnest commercially available substrate at 0.33 mm. The new glass is also 15% lighter and will be mass-produced as early as this month.

It’s unclear at this point who Asahi’s customers will be, but the company is expecting sales to hit US$120 million in 2013.

The glass will be showcased during the Display Week 2011 of the Society for Information Display (SID) in Los Angeles next month.

Via Akihabara News