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Corning CFO to Present at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Investment Conference


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Company sees LCD panel inventory adjustments

CORNING, N.Y., – Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer James B. Flaws will address investors at the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Investment Conference in San Francisco today. He will provide revisions to the company’s third-quarter expectations, insight into LCD panel makers supply chain inventory, and an update on other business performance.

“Our current view of the LCD market is that the supply chain is in the midst of an inventory correction and that our third-quarter glass demand will be lower than what we originally expected,” Flaws will tell conference attendees. In July, the company said it expected panel manufacturers to moderate third-quarter production, while glass demand would remain consistent with the previous quarter. The company now anticipates its total third-quarter glass volume will be down about 5% from a very robust second quarter. Total glass volume includes Corning’s wholly owned business and Samsung Corning Precision Glass Co., Ltd. The company has no change to its glass pricing expectations for the quarter.

Flaws will explain that the company has seen downward adjustments in panel utilization rates, mainly by Taiwanese and Japanese manufacturers. As a result, glass demand in Corning’s wholly owned business will be down about 25% sequentially. However, SCP is expected to be up 5% due to continued strong production levels at Korean panel manufacturers.

“While overall glass demand will be lower in the third quarter,” Flaws will reiterate, “LCD sales at retail for the first seven months of the year are in line with our expectations. LCD TV sales demand has remained strong across all geographic regions except the U.S. in recent months. We continue to believe that global LCD TV sales will reach 185 million units this year, a 37% increase over 2009 levels.”

Flaws will tell investors that the company has no change to its expectation that global glass market demand will reach 3.1 billion square feet this year, and that overall growth of the LCD glass market in 2011 and 2012 will continue growing at double-digit rates.

Regarding other business areas in the company, Flaws will note that all of these business segments are either on track or exceeding expectations in the third quarter. In addition, he will note that the continued strength in the Japanese yen-to-U.S. dollar exchange rate will significantly benefit the company’s third-quarter sales and net income.

In closing, Flaws will provide insight into management’s long-term thinking on company growth. “When we look out at the next several years, we see several significant opportunities to increase the size of the company and generate a significant amount of cash. We believe the company has the potential to reach $10 billion in sales within the next several years, through a combination of growth in our existing businesses, the creation of a significant new business for Corning, as well as through potential acquisitions. Reaching that level of sales would be a significant achievement for us and would almost double our sales from last year.”

Corning’s presentation to investors at the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Investment Conference will be available via webcast by accessing the investor events calendar on Corning’s Web site at www.corning.com/investor_relations.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which are based on current expectations and assumptions about Corning’s financial results and business operations, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include: the effect of global political, economic and business conditions; conditions in the financial and credit markets; currency fluctuations; tax rates; product demand and industry capacity; competition; reliance on a concentrated customer base; manufacturing efficiencies; cost reductions; availability of critical components and materials; new product commercialization; pricing fluctuations and changes in the mix of sales between premium and non-premium products; new plant start-up or restructuring costs; possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity, armed conflict, political or financial instability, natural disasters, adverse weather conditions, or major health concerns; adequacy of insurance; equity company activities; acquisition and divestiture activities; the level of excess or obsolete inventory; the rate of technology change; the ability to enforce patents; product and components performance issues; retention of key personnel; stock price fluctuations; and adverse litigation or regulatory developments. These and other risk factors are detailed in Corning’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the day that they are made, and Corning undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events.

About Corning Incorporated
Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 150 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences. Our products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware & equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy and metrology.



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