Richard Davies wrote: The UK has a good crop of technology pioneers in cloud computing - for example ElasticHosts, FlexiScale, Flexiant, OnApp - and also some strong government initiatives such as G-Cloud.
We will have to see whether this kind of technical leadership converts into swift mass-market adoption or not.
Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) President and Chief Operating Officer Peter
F. Volanakis will tell investors today that “all of our businesses,
including our equity ventures, are on track with our expectations for
the second quarter” when he speaks at the J.P. Morgan Technology
Conference in Boston at 8:40 a.m. Corning’s comments at the conference
can be heard via webcast at www.corning.com/investor_relations.
Industry data indicates that retail demand for LCD TVs, notebooks, and
monitors remains robust. April LCD TV unit sales increased 13% in the
U.S. over last year. Similarly, unit sales in Europe and Japan increased
22% and 44%, respectively. “These growth rates continue to run ahead of
our internal forecasts,” Volanakis will say. The retail data is the
result of reports from a variety of independent consumer market research
organizations (NPD, GFK and CMM) and 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 will say. “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.”
The company will note that second-quarter display volume expectations of
mid-single-digit sequential growth for both its wholly owned business
and Samsung Corning Precision Glass Co., Ltd., have not changed. Price
declines are expected to be down slightly sequentially. Volanakis will
add, “The operating performance within our Display
Technologies segment has been excellent.”
Volanakis will also comment that Corning’s Telecommunications segment
remains on track with the company’s previous guidance of a 10% to 15%
sequential increase. The business is experiencing very 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. Second-quarter sales in the Specialty
Materials segment are expected to be in line with the company’s
guidance of a 15% to 25% increase over quarter one, primarily driven by Gorilla®
glass. Sales in both the Environmental
Technologies segment and the Life
Sciences segment are also on pace with the company’s guidance for
the quarter.
Corning's comments to investors at the J.P. Morgan Technology Conference
will be available by accessing the IR events calendar on Corning's Web
site. To access the calendar, go to www.corning.com/investor_relations
and click Investor Events on the left.
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.