German specialty glass manufacturer Schott sees growth potential in doing business with the semiconductor industry and glass for so-called augmented reality glasses. CEO Frank Heinricht also expects growth for the pharmaceutical division, which will go public in 2023. The fact that Schott can be found in many products but is not recognizable as a name from the outside does not bother him. “That’s just the fate of a materials company.”
The company boss emphasized that glass is playing an increasingly important role in the semiconductor sector. “Modules based on plastic chips reach their limits due to temperature problems. Glass can offer many advantages here,” Heinricht explains. Special glass made it possible to build modules that had a precisely determined expansion at certain temperatures thanks to certain material mixtures.
Hoping for augmented reality glasses
He sees ‘blockbuster potential’ in augmented reality glasses. Augmented Reality (AR) means extended reality; for users of such glasses, digital objects are displayed in the real environment. These glasses require several hundred coatings and lenses that must be placed on top of each other, says Heinricht. “We are on board a very big player in this area.” Schott has set up a factory in Malaysia with around 500 employees. “This is an area in which we are investing heavily.”
In the home appliances and pharmaceuticals sectors, Schott, like other industrial companies, recently struggled with large customer inventories created during the corona pandemic. At the head offices in Mainz and in Mitterteich, Bavaria, employees were assigned short-time work – including in the production of ceramic hobs and in the production of glass tubes and rods for the pharmaceutical industry.
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Schott will continue to capitalize on the increasing number of injectable medications with its glass containers or syringes for medications. Vaccinations also remained a driver, “not only Covid, but also RSV and a possible combination vaccination against Covid-19, RSV and flu.”
Schott also wants to capitalize on the boom in weight-loss injections, such as those manufactured by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. “Weight loss injections are a big topic,” says Heinricht. “We are on board and a much sought-after partner.”
According to Schott Heinricht, the proceeds from the IPO of the pharmaceutical division in the autumn will mainly be invested in the green transformation, investments in machines and acquisitions. “We now have more options.” Possible acquisitions are being considered in the pharmaceutical, optics and liquid glass medical technology segments. Schott looks at how the portfolio can be meaningfully supplemented without too many investments.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
