Currently, among a handful of American companies, there's an age-old rallying cry that's coming back into vogue: Less is more. At Wal-Mart
And of course, there's the subject of today's column: Corning
The heart of the story
For others, though, it's only the beginning. Similar to the stories at Wal-Mart, Intel, and AMD, every passing year sees the per-unit-price of the high precision glass that Corning manufactures drop. According to Corning, "pricing declined ... 11%" for products made by the firm's Display Technologies division. Corning's glass-making joint venture with Samsung saw prices slide 15%.
But in a virtuous cycle, every drop in price for the components of LCD TVs and LCD computer monitors makes such products more affordable to more potential consumers, stoking demand for LCD TVs at Best Buy and Sears, growing notebook sales at Dell
The sequel
As good as this story reads so far, it's far from finished. Partway into the first quarter of 2008, Corning still sees "good momentum" in its display business. Inventories remain tight as customers work to keep up with LCD panel demand, and as fast as unit prices fall, sales seem destined to rise more than enough to offset them. One year from today, I'm looking forward to enjoying the sequel every bit as much as I enjoyed Corning's 2007 report.
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