In speaking to investors on 2 March 2009 at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco, Corning Incorporated president and chief operating officer Peter F. Volanakis shared updates on k…
In speaking to investors on 2 March 2009 at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco, Corning Incorporated president and chief operating officer Peter F. Volanakis shared updates on key topics relevant to the company“s Display Technologies segment and other businesses. He also addressed questions posed by investors. “The data points we are seeing for both LCD television retail sales and panel makers are encouraging and continue to give us confidence that the supply chain is on the right track,” Mr. Volanakis said. “Retail sales of LCD TVs have continued to be strong, panel inventories on average remain healthy, and panel prices are stabilizing. The current trends look positive”. Data supplied by NPD Group, an independent consumer market research firm, shows that in the US alone, January 2009 unit sales of LCD TVs increased 35% over 2008. Similarly, unit sales in China and Japan grew 109% and 17%, respectively. The first two weeks of February appear positive as well with US sales up 40% year over year. As a reminder, the company is forecasting worldwide LCD TV unit sales to increase by 9% for the full year. Addressing the supply chain, Mr. Volanakis spoke of healthy inventories and stable prices, remarking, “We continue to be encouraged by news coming out of the panel makers. In fact, for 19-inch and 32-inch TVs – the most popular sizes – we have seen panel price increases this month”. The company is also seeing an increase in Taiwanese and Korean panel maker utilization rates from January to February. “In this type of environment, where panel makers are generating cash, there could be less pricing pressure on component suppliers”. “This is why we continue to have confidence that the display supply chain will stop contracting at the end of the 1Q”, Mr. Volanakis said. In addition, he reiterated that Corning“s 2009 revenue expectation of USD 5 billion requires an increase in overall LCD panel sales in the 2H of this year. No new information was presented on the company“s environmental business, which continues to be impacted by the recession. In the telecommunications segment, “we remain cautious” as the business has yet to feel material impact from the economy. Corning“s comments to investors at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference is available by accessing the investor relations events calendar on Corning“s web site.