Corning recorded 18% sales growth but took an 8.9% hit to share price. The talk was of growth due to data center requirements and a hit to Gorilla Glass due to slower iPhone sales. Its surprising there was no mention of the rest of the fiber optics market.
As I drive major roads in my area I notice most still have those heavy phone cables containing dozens of color coded twisted pairs of copper wire. Twisted pairs are from the birth of phones abt 1880; heavy cables from abt 1920. It’s an ancient technology that we know is not suited to high speed data transmission. You can have DSL over your twisted pair at abt 20 mbps once fiber gets within about a mile of your home. That is no match for coax used by cable TV at up to abt 400 mbps and fiber optic probably has much higher potential.
The phone company has miles and miles of obsolete cable they need to replace or up date. Fiber optic is the logical choice. I notice some firms now offer internet by 5G from cell towers. I suspect there will be bandwidth and number of channel limitations. Cell zones will need to get smaller. You will need a cell tower on every corner.
With everyone getting cell phones, there’s not much need to connect with homes, but fiber is the best choice for internet due to much higher capacity. And growing customer need for speed and services.
Google reports Corning is the clear leader in the US. Prysmian Group, an Italian company has 15% share globally. Others are mostly Asian players:
Sumitomo Electric Industries – Top-tier Japanese manufacturer; ultra-low-loss fibers, high-density multi-core cables, and 6G-ready products.
Fujikura Ltd. – Renowned for advanced splicing tools and reliable cables.
Furukawa Electric / OFS – Major Japanese player with strong telecom and data center supply.
YOFC (Yangtze Optical Fibre & Cable) – Leading Chinese manufacturer with global reach.
Hengtong Optic-Electric – Significant share in Asia-Pacific market.
CommMesh – Fast-growing Chinese manufacturer with strong innovation focus.
Dekam-Fiber – Specializes in high-performance cables for telecom and data centers.
Nexans — French multinational with strong presence in telecom and energy sectors.
Fiber is unique in that raw material is mostly sand and plastics used as jackets. No metals involved. Manufacture is not labor intensive. There may be imports but domestic manufacture has an advantage as it avoids shipping costs.
In my area it’s the internet companies that are installing fiber optic cable in the suburbs. AT&T, 3i, and some Spectrum. Presumably these folks will eventually consolidate and share capacity rather than run parallel lines. First to high margin customers. Eventually all that twisted pair cable has to be replaced.
I think Corning has excellent growth potential. The phone company has many miles to upgrade.
If you build a new home, would you include phone cables? Coax for cable? Fiber? Or rely on WiFi from your connection? Is WiFi capacity limited?