History

Since our founding in 1949, NEG has dedicated over half a century to refining glass technology, creating "glass that meets the demands of advancing civilization." As displays have evolved from cathode ray tubes to LCD and OLED technologies, we have developed and supplied special glass that plays a crucial role in various sectors, including ICT, automotive, medical, and lighting, enriching daily life with the power of glass.

With our domestic facilities as the foundation, we have expanded our operations globally to meet the needs of international markets. We are also actively transforming our business structure in response to changing market dynamics. Moving forward, we will continue to refine world-class manufacturing and adapt to global demands.

Separating from NEC in 1949, NEG was established with a focus on hand-blown vacuum bulbs and glass tubing. By 1951, we had successfully automated the production of glass tubing using the Danner process. Then in 1956, we transitioned to continuous production of glass tubing using a tank furnace, which solidified glass tubing as the foundation of our business.

In 1965, we started producing CRT glass bulbs, marking the start of a growth period aligned with the rise of television and CRT-related businesses in Japan. During that time, we also started producing glass-ceramics, glass blocks, electronic glass materials, and glass fibers, solidifying our position as a leading manufacturer of special glass, with CRT glass becoming one of our core products.

As we entered the 1990s, NEG started to establish a global production network in response to the overseas expansion of Japanese CRT manufacturers and increasing global demand. The latter half of the decade saw the emergence of flat panel displays, prompting us to start producing substrate glass.

To address the rapid growth of the FPD market, we started producing glass substrates for LCDs using the overflow process, focusing on larger and higher-quality glass substrates to meet advanced market requirements.

As the rapid growth in FPD glass sales began to moderate, we shifted our focus to expanding our glass fiber offerings for reinforcing high-performance engineering plastics and glass tubing for pharmaceutical and medical applications. During this period, we also launched several innovative products, including glass for solar cells, cover glass for smartphones, and phosphor-glass composites. Notably, we made significant strides in developing unique products such as Glass-ribbon and glass with a zero coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).

In 2015, we revised our corporate philosophy and initiated a three-year medium-term business plan in 2016 to drive further growth. To expand our glass fiber business, we acquired a European business in 2016 and an American business from PPG Industries in 2017. As a result, glass fiber has become a key pillar of our operations alongside FPD glass.