McNaughton will discuss with investors Corning's LCD glass business, one of the company's significant growth opportunities. During his presentation, he will say that Corning expects worldwide LCD glass market volume to continue to grow between 30 percent and 50 percent for the next several years. "We believe that the market growth for LCD glass in 2004 will be at the top half of this range due to the popularity of notebook computers, the continued penetration of LCD desktop monitors and the emergence of LCD TV," McNaughton will say.
McNaughton will point out that notebook computer sales should continue to be a stable source of demand for LCD glass, as total notebook penetration of the computer market could reach 30 percent by 2006. "LCD monitors represent the largest near-term growth driver for the LCD industry," McNaughton will note. "LCD monitors are on track to displace traditional cathode ray tubes as the display of choice this year and remain on pace to exceed 75 percent of monitors sold by 2006." He will also say that the company expects LCD televisions to be up to 16 percent of the worldwide TV market within three years.
McNaughton will also say that Corning continues to demonstrate the scalability of the company's fusion technology with its expansion into production of the larger-sized Generation 6 and 7 glass substrates. Corning is a leading supplier of Generation 5 glass substrates and, in June 2003, became the first commercial supplier of Generation 6 substrates.
Further, Corning is now building Generation 7 fusion manufacturing in the Samsung Corning Precision (SCP) factory in Cheonan, Korea and commercial shipments are planned for the second half of 2004. Corning is already in the early development stages for Generation 8, preparing to support the industry's continuing migration to larger glass substrates.
Finally, McNaughton will note that Corning recently increased its first-quarter 2004 guidance on sequential volume growth in LCD, due to strong demand. "We are very pleased to see strong demand continuing in Quarter 1 and we are focusing our efforts to accelerate additional capacity to better serve the industry," McNaughton will add. He will point out that Corning's LCD revenue growth will depend on actual future market growth as well as other forward-looking factors including consumer choices, market shares, pricing pressures and the impact of exchange rates.
Corning to Present at Display Industry Conferences
Corning Incorporated's Senior Vice President of Display, Donald B. McNaughton, will discuss the company's growth opportunities in liquid crystal display (LCD) glass at the USDC Display Industry Investment Conference in New York City on March 24, and at the 6th Annual DisplaySearch US FPD Conference in San Diego, Calif., on March 31.