Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019
Consolidated Statements of Income [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 3,001	$ 2,934	$ 7,953	$ 8,686
Cost of sales	2,000	1,917	5,635	5,505
Gross margin	1,001	1,017	2,318	3,181
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative expenses	480	369	1,276	1,184
Research, development and engineering expenses	231	255	922	753
Amortization of purchased intangibles	33	28	87	85
Operating income	257	365	33	1,159
Equity in (losses) earnings of affiliated companies (Note 3)	(76)	23	17	81
Interest income	3	4	12	16
Interest expense	(70)	(55)	(201)	(161)
Translated earnings contract (loss) gain, net (Note 14)	(100)	86	5	163
Transaction-related gain, net (Note 4)	498		498
Other expense, net	(62)	(15)	(71)	(59)
Income before income taxes	450	408	293	1,199
Provision for income taxes (Note 8)	(23)	(71)	(33)	(271)
Net income attributable to Corning Incorporated	$ 427	$ 337	$ 260	$ 928
Earnings per common share attributable to Corning Incorporated:
Basic (Note 10)	$ 0.53	$ 0.40	$ 0.25	$ 1.10
Diluted (Note 10)	$ 0.48	$ 0.38	$ 0.24	$ 1.03