The European Commission has launched a formal investigation against Corning to see whether the company violated antitrust rules with its popular Gorilla Glass product.
Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, confirmed the situation in a statement obtained by Newsng on Thursday.
Corning’s Alkali-aluminosilicate glass protects the majority of the top phones and tablets, with Samsung and Apple employing it widely across their respective product lines.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced the decision today. It stated that the investigation focuses on a series of exclusive supply agreements that Corning has signed with handset manufacturers and glass processing companies.
Officials are concerned that these contracts may undermine competition.
“The Commission is concerned that the agreements that Corning put in place with OEMs and finishers may have excluded rival glass producers from large segments of the market, thereby reducing customer choice, increasing prices, and stifling innovation to the detriment of consumers worldwide,” the EU wrote.
The Commission stated that it will now conduct an in-depth examination as a matter of priority. There is no set schedule for concluding such an investigation.
Therefore it remains to be seen whether the EU will confirm any infraction.
“It is very frustrating and costly experience to break a mobile phone screen,” said European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager. “Therefore, strong competition in the production of the cover glass used to protect such devices is crucial to ensure low prices and high-quality glass.”
However, if it does, penalties for competition infractions can reach up to 10% of global revenue.
If Corning is found to have violated EU competition rules, it may face a fine; however, the glass maker will also have the option to address the Commission’s concerns with a series of undertakings that might bring the antitrust inquiry to a conclusion.
“Corning has and will continue to be committed to compliance with all applicable rules and regulations where it does business,” the company said in a statement.
“As part of that commitment, we work with local regulatory authorities to ensure open discussion and cooperation.”
We earlier reported that Britain’s competition regulator approved Microsoft’s hiring of former Inflection AI staff and cooperation with the startup, concluding that the transaction did not require additional scrutiny.
