MARKET STRUCTURE AND FORCES
Corning Incorporated is a global company, with a diverse portfolio, spread across 26 locations. It operates in five business segments: Display Technologies Segment, Telecommunications Segment, Environmental Technologies Segment, Specialty Materials Segment, and Life Sciences Segment. Its diverse portfolio provides it an edge over others, in terms of exposure to various segments and ensuring that their revenue stream isn’t totally dependent on one market sector. The core focus of the company has been on innovation and a long-term focus on return on investment, and this enables Corning to obtain and sustain competitive advantage in the materials and process technology domain. Corning has evolved from starting out as a bulb manufacturer in the middle of the 19th century to the giant multi-national, multi-product corporation of today. Its strategy to remain ahead of competitors revolves around developing a brand new technology, protecting its intellectual property vigorously and then developing world class manufacturing processes to manufacture it.
In 2000, Corning received 75% of its revenues from telecommunications, due to the explosive growth of broadband Internet coverage. The accompanying focus on Internet infrastructure meant that Corning’s heavy investment in the fiber optics sector, seemed like a wise decision. However, by 2003 the company was on verge of bankruptcy, as organizational spending on fiber optics had nearly evaporated, after the dot-com crash. But the company was able to recover by capitalizing on the opportunity of increased LCD demand. It also found a business opportunity, in 2007 for its glass product ”Chemcor”, developed during 1960’s which now is used in mobile phones, under the trade name Gorilla Glass
BUSINESS SEGMENTS:
1. Display Technologies Segment: This segment manufactures glass substrates that are used in LCD(Liquid Crystal Display).This segment is the crown jewel of the company since it...