Why Sapphire Glass failed?
In order to prevent display panel from scratches, these smartphones OEM try to choose a hard material to manufacture the display panel glass. The best example can be of Sapphire glass which was supposed to be opted by Apple in their new products. Now, we all know that sapphire is second most hard substance available across the globe, hence the only other thing which can mark a scratch on this is either sapphire or diamond. This fact also states that sapphire glass based display are scratch resistant to a higher extent as compared to Corning Gorilla Glass based display.
Experts had high expectations with the evolvement of new Sapphire glass but being a scratch-less glass was not enough. As we saw in the stress test, that it takes only 161 lbs of force to break a sapphire panel as compared to 436 lbs which is required to break Corning Gorilla Glass. Saphire glass will also require a stronger backlight for same quality display thus consuming more power. Moreover Sapphire is more expensive, takes more energy to be manufactured and is heavier as compared to a Corning Gorilla Glass panel.
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Now, these reasons were quite reasonable to delay the inclusion of this material in the new smartphone and especially when Corning Gorilla Glass 4 which is about to be seen in the new smartphones claims to have double damage resistance as compared to Sapphire Glass Panel. Moreover, it is said that this new version of Gorilla Glass will 80% of total survival rate, which is still less but a great achievement in this industry.
Some Solutions – Robust Smartphones and Flexible Display Panels
Well, the only smartphone OEM planning to do something innovative is LG. They have already launched their flexible range of LCD panels, which are lighter, thinner and more flexible. Now, this property of flexibility acts as a solution to the problem of shattering. However, to be really honest about the reason that why every smartphone does not have a strong display, then we would say that it has lot to do with the manufacturing cost of a smartphone.
We all know that Sapphire is a strong device but then it is really hard to put that material in every device or to add corning Gorilla Glass 3 in every smartphone because of high cost issues. Hence usually the smartphones in the mid-range price level face such issue. Smartphone OEMs are still investing in their their money and time after a strong glass which would bear the strong impact and make a complete drop-proof smartphone without compromising over the design and other physical dimensions of the smartphone.
Smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S5 are available in the market, which are fully equipped with all the robust peripherals but compromise on weight and design. So, you can end with such devices without compromising on the performance factor and still getting a dustproof, waterproof and drop-proof device. However, if you plan to see something similar with a lighter and more sleek design then you will have to wait because the search for such glass material is still on.
Cost Factor
This is the most important factor which limits the smartphone OEMs to go ahead and use those expensive material which may probably make them drop-proof to a huge extent. Sapphire glass was being awaited for a very long time and the only reason stopping it was the cost factor. However, now when the cost factor has been reduced to a huge extent, it is still awaited to end up with any smartphone because of the issue mentioned above and hence research is still going on to infuse the desirable properties into it.
Conclusion
Display Glass is a really delicate part of any smartphone available at the exterior side and hence even a small scratch to it, takes away the whole looks factor from the device. Going, along the same lines, it is expected that in future we might see a new compound with sapphire which may posses the property to handle stronger impact and being scratch-less at the same time. Stay tuned to know about the progress in this segment.
