Too Soon to Say When 5G Will Affect Corning’s Optical Fiber Business, Says CEO

It’s too early to forecast when the 5G rollout might start benefiting Corning’s optical glass fiber business, said CEO Wendell Weeks on a Tuesday earnings call. “I would characterize 5G as being in the beginning,” said Weeks. “We’re just really at the early stages of the deployment of infrastructure needed to have a 5G service level.” Some of the first deployments “you see out of different carriers are some of the easier ones,” said Weeks. “You’re really going to see the demand for our products get stronger and stronger as you have to support full mobility for 5G. That’s also going to take phones getting upgraded to 5G. So we’re just right in the beginning, and we’ve got a long, long way to go to get that much glass in the ground.”