Corning To Slash About 190 JobsCorning To Slash About 190 Jobs

CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- Fiber-optics maker Corning Inc. said Thursday it is shutting down a photonics technology plant in Fountain Valley, Calif., and eliminating about 190 jobs.

Scrambling to rebound from a sharp slowdown in the telecommunications industry, the company is taking aim at a division that makes components designed to boost or redirect transmission of data traveling long distances at high speeds through fiber-optic lines.

By mid-2003, Corning said it will discontinue wavelength-switch and wavelength-blocker products made at the California factory. The shutdown will save the company between $20 million and $30 million before taxes in the first and second quarters.

In January, the world's biggest maker of optical fiber and cable posted a fourth-quarter loss of $709 million, its seventh quarterly loss in a row. However, Corning anticipates making a profit in the third quarter of this year despite persistently weak sales in telecommunications.

Corning cut 8,800 jobs last year on top of 2,000 in 2001, shrinking its worldwide payroll to about 23,500 people.