Corning president and COO Peter F. Volanakis has indicated that Corning's businesses, including its equity ventures, are on track with its forecast for the second quarter of 2010.

Corning's display businesses, both its wholly owned business and Samsung Corning Precision Glass, are expected to see a mid-single-digit sequential growth for the second quarter. Prices are expected to be down slightly sequentially.

Corning's forecast for the second quarter also includes 10-15% sequential growth for its telecommunications segments amid strong seasonal demand for both fiber and cable in North America and Europe driven by very strong pull from new private network builds, as well as from the start of a fiber-to-the-home ramp in Canada, and 15-25% sequential growth for specialty materials segment, primarily driven by the Gorilla glass.

Industry data indicates that retail demand for LCD TVs, notebooks, and monitors remains robust. April LCD TV shipments increased 13% in the US market on year. Shipments in Europe and Japan increased 22% and 44%, respectively, for the month. "These growth rates continue to run ahead of our internal forecasts," Volanakis said. The retail data is the result of reports from research firms such as NPD, GFK and CMM, as well as the company's internal analysis.

In China, LCD TV demand appears to remain strong as well. "We do not yet have April retail data for China, but there are no indications that consumers' appetite has abated," Volanakis said. "Incentive programs continue and retail prices are very attractive. As a result, we still see 37 million LCD TV unit sales in China this year."