I won't bore you with the numbers, but optical fiber is red hot again at Coring Inc. Fiber, which generated profits in the late 1990s that were previously unimaginable, lost much of its luster when the telecommunications market imploded in 2001.
For much of the past decade, it has taken a back seat to display glass as the top revenue producer for the Twin Tiers' largest employer.
All that may be changing
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In March, for example, Corning sold more optical fiber than in any month in its history — even more than in any month during the optical telecommunications craze, when it had a difficult time meeting demand for the product.
The Fortune 500 company said that its telecommunications sales — fiber, cable and optical networking devices — increased 30 percent in the first quarter over the same period last year.
Much of the increase came in so-called "fiber to the home" products, such as those marketed by Verizon Communications, a major Corning customer.
The resurgence of the fiber business, if it continues, could help propel Corning Inc. to its goal of $10 billion in revenue by 2014.
Already, Corning predicts that telecom sales will grow 30 percent in the second quarter over the same period in 2010.
Fiber's renewed growth is coming at an opportune time for Corning because the phenomenal growth in the display glass business has cooled a bit.
Display glass still accounts for most of Corning's profits and will continue to do so in the near term, but the gap between telecom and display will probably continue to narrow.
That, of course, is good news because companies with multiple sources of significant revenue are better equipped to deal with an unpredictable economy.
Another reason the display market may be cooling is that ownership of televisions in the U.S. appears to be declining.
The Nielsen Company told its customers last week that for the first time in 20 years, the number of homes in the United States with television sets has declined — from 98.9 percent to 96.7 percent. Nielsen blamed the drop on the inability of low-income households to afford new digital television technology, and on younger viewers' use of the Internet to watch television shows.
Whatever the reason, the trend could dampen demand for television display glass. Whether it spreads to other markets beyond the United States remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, a renaissance in the optical fiber business is welcome news for a company determined to diversify its revenue sources.
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