By Scott Moritz, writer
Corning (GLW) is betting big that consumers around the world are about to develop a serious passion for high-priced television sets.
Buoyed by sustained demand for liquid crystal display, or LCD, televisions, Corning said Tuesday it will increase spending by about $400 million, or 44%, to boost LCD glass production this year. The glassmaking giant says it is also seeing strong demand for its scratch-resistant “Gorilla” LCD glass, which is used in touchscreen devices.
The news, announced shortly after Corning reported strong first-quarter results and raised targets for the second quarter, counters signs of a slowing U.S. economy and worries that a recession here would hamper global economic growth.
Corning’s strategy to zig while the rest of the market zags, isn’t new for the venerable tech pioneer. In early 2001, Corning predicted demand was still growing for its production of fiber-optic cables. Five months later, with the collapse of the Internet building boom in full swing, Corning reported an abrupt drop in businessand took a $4.8 billion writedown on its newly expanding fiber operations.
Corning, of course, thinks everything is different this time — and can point to several indicators showing strong LCD TV demand.
Inventory at its panel-making customers is low. “We don’t see any glass building up at the panel makers,” Corning executives said on the earnings conference call Tuesday. Corning supplies the flat glass that goes into the screen panels that are then supplied to TV makers. And Corning says TV sales are “ahead of what our expectations were.”
Healthy demand in stores is driving Corning’s decision to ramp up glass production. The production expansion plan is guided by “what we believe the end market will be,” CEO Wendall Weeks said on the call.
To back that up, Corning says LCD TVs comprise about 8% of the worldwide TV market. And with the rapid decline in conventional TVs made with cathode ray tubes, LCDs will presumably dominate the market.
Corning predicts households will soon have multiple LCD TVs, not just in living rooms and bedrooms but also kitchens and bathrooms. To illustrate this market opportunity, Flaws pointed to data indicating that China has a mere 1.1 TVs per home.
Once again, Corning is relying on rosy numbers to inform its bold decisions. Stay tuned to see if the company is right — this time.
Corning: TV sales over time