EU says Corning offered committments in effort to settle Gorilla Glass probe

The European Commission said it is inviting comments on commitments offered by Corning (GLW) to address competition concerns over its alleged exclusive dealing in relation to the supply of Alkali-aluminosilicate glass, a special type of glass mainly used as cover glass in handheld electronic devices. On November 6, the Commission opened a formal investigation over concerns that Corning may have distorted competition in the market for Alkali-AS Glass by concluding anticompetitive exclusive supply agreements with mobile phone manufacturers and with companies that process raw glass. The Commission preliminarily found that Corning is dominant on the worldwide market for Alkali-AS Glass. To address the Commission’s competition concerns, Corning has offered the following commitments: To waive all exclusive dealing clauses in all its current agreements with OEMs and finishers for the supply of Alkali-AS Glass, and not to use such clauses or others with the same or a similar effect in future agreements worldwide. To not to require OEMs to purchase or cause their supply chain to purchase any quantity of Alkali-AS Glass from Corning, and not to offer OEMs any price advantages conditional on such requirements. Not to require OEMs to purchase or cause their supply chain to purchase more than 50% of their respective demand from Corning. Not to require finishers to purchase more than 50% of their combined demand for NAS Glass, LAS Glass, and Clear Glass Ceramics from Corning, nor to condition price advantages on such purchasing requirements. The Commission invites all interested parties to submit their views within six weeks from the publication of a summary of the proposed commitments in the EU’s Official Journal.