Corning Announces Partial Reopening of its Concord, N.C., Optical Fiber Manufacturing Facility

Corning Announces Partial Reopening of its Concord, N.C., Optical Fiber Manufacturing Facility

April 29, 2007

Decision Based on Continued Growth of the Optical Fiber
Market and Increased Demand for Corning Semiconductor
Materials Products


    CORNING, N.Y., April 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Corning
Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) on April 25 announced plans to
reopen a portion of its Concord, N.C., optical fiber
manufacturing facility. As previously stated, the company
expects it will take approximately six to nine months to
restart fiber manufacturing. Production will be paced to
meet market demand.

    (Logo: http://www.xprn.com.cn/xprn/sa/200612081746.jpg
)

    "The optical fiber market has witnessed volume
growth of greater than 15 percent in each of the last two
years," said Eric S. Musser, vice president and
general manager of Corning Optical Fiber. "Over 80
percent of worldwide fiber demand now comes from the access
and metro segments, and we expect to see continued market
growth. The partial start-up of our Concord facility will
ensure that we have adequate capacity to capture this
expanding market opportunity."

    Another factor in the decision to partially reopen
Concord is the growth in demand for Corning semiconductor
materials products. In addition to optical fiber, Corning
also manufactures high-purity fused silica for
semiconductor lithography applications at its Wilmington,
N.C., facility. Corning's semiconductor business is growing
at double-digit rates, resulting in the need for increased
specialty glass capacity in Wilmington. This demand has
displaced some of Wilmington's fiber making capacity.

    "The manufacturing process at the Wilmington
facility produces innovative specialty glass for
challenging microlithography applications. The lithographic
industry is expected to show continued growth with higher
semiconductor content in consumer electronics," said
James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager
of Corning Specialty Materials.

    About Corning Incorporated

    Corning Incorporated ( http://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.

    Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements
that involve a variety of business risks and other
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially. These risks and uncertainties include the
possibility of changes in global economic and political
conditions; currency fluctuations; product demand and
industry capacity; competition; manufacturing efficiencies;
cost reductions; availability of critical components and
materials; new product commercialization; changes in the
mix of sales between premium and non-premium products; new
plant start-up costs; possible disruption in commercial
activities due to terrorist activity, armed conflict,
political instability 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;
stock price fluctuations; and adverse litigation or
regulatory developments. Additional risk factors are
identified 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.


    For more information, please contact:

    Media Relations Contact: 

     M. Elizabeth Dann
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Lydia Lu
     Tel:   [phone] x1900
     Email: [e-mail]   

    Investor Relations Contact:

     Kenneth C. Sofio
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]