5G – the new generation in mobile technology – is coming.
It will be so big and so powerful, it will singlehandedly drive all other technologies over the next several decades.
What 5G will deliver isn't merely better video over cellphones. It will deliver virtually unlimited amounts of connectivity, continuously, across the entire wireless network. This is the real wireless Internet, and it will change the world's economy as much as fiber-optic networks did in the late 1990s.
As a 5G mobile phone user, you will see a roughly 10 times improvement in bandwidth and 10 times improvement in latency. But it won't only mean more speed. It will also allow for more numerous connections. The so-called "density" of this new kind of networking is hard to imagine. For operators, 5G will allow for up to 1,000 times more devices per square meter than 4G.
This kind of pervasive wireless bandwidth will enable methods of communication and digital controls that we can't imagine today. For example, it can not only support self-driving cars, but also allow for innovations like mobile stores and automated mobile warehouses.
It will also create a huge range of potential new investments. But only a few companies' products will play a foundational role in virtually all new 5G network applications.
Take Corning (NYSE: GLW), for example.
Corning is the leading glass manufacturer for laptops, TVs, tablets, and cellphones. It makes money per square inch of glass sold. And thanks to 4G and now 5G, smartphone and tablet screens are constantly getting bigger.
Corning's flagship product is Gorilla Glass. Virtually every kind of connected product uses it – 6 billion products different networked products, offered by more than 40 different brands. So, while we might not be able to guess which company will build the breakthrough 5G device five years from now, we know which firm will provide the key material: Corning.
And that's not the only role Corning will play in the 5G evolution. The ever-increasing amounts of data created by all of those new 5G devices will also mean huge increases in demand for fiber-optic data capacity. We're now creating 2.5 quintillion bytes every day.
In case you're wondering how big a quintillion is... a trillion is followed by a quadrillion, which is followed by a quintillion – that's a "1" with 18 zeroes after it. Data growth rates suggest that about 100% more data will on the network in another 18 to 24 months. And this growth rate isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Who makes the best fiber-optic cable in the world? Corning.
So, when the world wants to boost Internet capacity, we know who it will turn to: Corning.
What does this mean for investors? There are many ways to potentially make huge gains in the upcoming 5G innovation wave, but few are more certain than owning Corning's shares. Plus, the company has returned more than $10 billion to shareholders by way of dividend and share buybacks over the past three years.
That is almost half of the stock's market cap.
And more is on the way. It announced earlier this year it will repurchase another $2 billion worth of shares.
We think buying the best glass and fiber-optic-cable manufacturer as it greatly reduces its shares outstanding… and just as the new 5G evolution gets started… is a low-risk way to make a substantial return. We're expecting total returns between 50% and 100% over the next two years.
Sometimes investing is simple.
Editor's note: Stansberry's Investment Advisory recommended the stock in August 2017. Subscribers who followed that advice are up roughly 10% so far.