W ENDELL P.  W EEKS J AMES B. F LAWS
VICE CHAIRMAN
AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PRESIDENT
AND CHIEF OPERA TING OFFICER
8
We take great pride in saying that Corning continues to be
a financially sound company, thanks to the aggressive
strategies we executed throughout 2002. Although it has
been a very painful process, we have dramatically slowed
the rate at which we are spending cash. We ended the year
with a balance of cash and short-term investments of
$2.1 billion. And we have access to $2 billion in credit
that we haven’t touched — and don’t plan to. We also
continue to pay down debt each quarter. This, combined
with our plan to return to profitability in 2003, gives us
a high degree of confidence in our ability to meet any
future financial obligations. So, we feel very good about our
liquidity position right now.
The ongoing economic weakness and uncertainty in world
events continue to make the overall business environment
a volatile one. Still, we have greatly improved our ability
to forecast revenues and expenses quarter-to-quarter, and
we are encouraged by the near-term growth potential of
our non-telecommunications businesses — especially our
liquid-crystal display, environmental and semiconductor
businesses. If these markets continue to grow as we expect,
we are confident that we will be able to meet our goals.
We know that our shareholders are most eager to see a
greater return on their investment with Corning, and of
course our return to profitability will be key to building back
Wall Street’s confidence. We are 100 percent committed
to reaching that goal of profitability in 2003 — and doing
so within the rigorous compliance rules by which we
have always been guided. Integrity characterizes all our
relationships, both inside and outside of Corning, and we
will never compromise that foundation of our reputation.
In our business operations during 2002 we invested
a great deal of energy aligning our cost structure and
business plans with our priority of restoring profitability.
After massive restructuring — following restructuring
efforts we launched in 2001—we feel we now have our
cost structure and growth strategies in place to accomplish
this goal. 
We have re-balanced the company to take advantage of
our broad and diverse set of businesses. And in charting
our strategies, we have focused on ensuring that both our
segments have solid business plans in place, enabling
them to grow. Our people are rigorously committed to
executing against these plans.
As you saw earlier in this report, our Corning
Technologies businesses are in markets with solid growth
potential. We have leading market positions in attractive
businesses … we are ready to capitalize on that position of
strength. Meanwhile, we are making these businesses
even more cost-effective through significant manufactur-
ing efficiency gains.
In telecommunications, we are not planning on a market
recovery in 2003. We have aligned our cost structure to
meet current demand levels after two very tough years
of ongoing restructuring.
Within the context of our financial realities, however, we
have not lost our sense of self. We will meet our
goals … but the path we are taking to get there has been,
and will continue to be, consistent with our V alues.
Integrity … quality … treating individuals with dignity
and respect … these are the guiding principles of the 
decisions we make. We know that in adhering to our
V alues, solid business performance will follow.