The LCD glass maker this morning said it is now withdrawing the financial guidance it provided just a few weeks ago for the fourth quarter and for 2009.

In a statement, CFO James Flaws said that “Panel makers, particularly those in Taiwan, have continued to reduce the utilization of their factories heading into the second half of this quarter in response to weakened retail demand for LCD televisions and desktop monitors.” He added that demand in the company’s wholly owned display glass business “has dropped more precipitously than we expected just a few weeks ago,” with “additional, but less severe, reductions in demand at Samsung Corning Precision Glass,” its joint venture in South Korea.

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This morning, Corning CFO James Flaws said in a statement that third-quarter glass shipments grew 2 percent sequentially, which was lower than expected. Corning said volume was was up 12 percent at Samsung Corning joint venture, but down 10 percent at the wholly-owned business.

The company still expects Q3 EPS of 43-45 cents a share before special items.

Flaws is not providing specific Q4 guidance at this time. But he did offer some cautionary comments. “We believe that many Taiwanese panel makers may decide to continue to run at lower utilization rates for much of the fourth quarter,” he says. “We actually think this may be more beneficial to the supply chain heading into the first quarter. If this happens, we would not be surprised if volumes at our wholly-owned business decline sequentially in the fourth quarter. Regarding SCP, we believe their volumes could be higher if the Korean panel makers continue with their higher utilization rates.”

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