Note 8 - Acquisitions (Details Textual) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands					3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
		Dec. 29, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 15, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jan. 15, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014 shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2013	Nov. 30, 2013
Number of Businesses Acquired					1	4		2	5
Goodwill					$ 1,380,000			$ 1,577,000	$ 1,380,000	$ 1,150,000
Preferred Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ / shares					$ 100			$ 100	$ 100
Preferred Stock, Shares Issued | shares					2,300			2,300	2,300
Stock Issued During Period, Value, Acquisitions										1,915,000
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration, Asset					$ 246,000			$ 289,000	$ 246,000
Proceeds from Equity Method Investment, Dividends or Distributions								85,000	143,000	1,704,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member]
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage												57.50%	50.00%
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member] | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. [Member]
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage			42.50%	42.50%									42.50%
Convertible Preferred Stock, Series A [Member]
Preferred Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ / shares			$ 100	$ 100
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses [Member]
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs									$ 11,000
Patents Trademarks Trade Names Customer Lists and Other [Member]
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life									10 years
Optical Communications [Member]
Goodwill					439,000			645,000	$ 439,000	238,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred								356,000
Five Acquisitions [Member]
Goodwill	[1]				300,000				300,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred									725,000
Five Acquisitions [Member] | Optical Communications [Member]
Goodwill					213,000				213,000
Five Acquisitions [Member] | All Other [Member]
Goodwill					87,000				87,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member]
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs										93,000
Preferred Stock, Shares Issued | shares			2,300	2,300
Stock Issued During Period, Value, Acquisitions			$ 2,300,000
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration, Asset		$ 458,000	196,000	$ 196,000	$ 246,000			289,000	246,000	$ 196,000
Business Combination Contingent Consideration Assets Assignment Agreement Threshold		(300,000)
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage										57.50%
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable										$ 1,911,000
Business Combination, Net Fair Value of Consideration, Including Subsequent Acquisition				4,000,000						4,038,000
Fair Value of Reacquired Right			0	$ 0
Contractual Royalty Rate				3.00%
Current Market Rate of Royalty Contract				12.00%
Settlement of Preexisting Customer Relationship Including Subsequent Acquisition				$ 320,000						320,000
Percentage of Loss on Effective Settlement of Contract				100.00%
Settlement of Preexisting Customer Relationship Before Subsequent Acquisition				$ 184,000						184,000
Business Combination, Net Fair Value of Consideration, Before Subsequent Acquisition				2,300,000						2,323,000	[2]
Business Combination, Step Acquisition, Equity Interest in Acquiree, Fair Value				2,100,000						2,139,000
Settlement of Preexisting Customer Relationship				136,000						136,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred				1,600,000						1,900,000
Proceeds from Equity Method Investment, Dividends or Distributions				1,600,000						1,574,000
Cash Dividends Paid by Consolidated Subsidiaries				2,800,000
Business Combination, Provisional Information, Initial Accounting Incomplete, Adjustment, Consideration Transferred										60,000
Business Combination, Increase in Net Sales From Consolidation of the Acquiree								$ 1,317,000	$ 1,343,000	$ 1,761,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member] | Revenues Generated by Samsung Corning Precision Materials [Member]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, High			665,000	665,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member] | Volum of Certain Sales [Member]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, High			$ 100,000	$ 100,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member] | Samsung Displays Obligation to Pay or Right to Received [Member]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration, Asset		246,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member] | Long Term Supply Agreements [Member]
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration, Asset		$ 212,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member] | Convertible Preferred Stock, Series A [Member]
Preferred Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ / shares			$ 100	$ 100
Share Price | $ / shares			$ 1,000,000	$ 1,000,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Acquisitions | shares			2,300	1,900			1,900
Stock Issued During Period, Value, Acquisitions				$ 1,900,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Equity Interests Issued and Issuable				$ 1,900,000
Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. [Member] | Convertible Preferred Stock, Series A [Member] | Additional Amount Issued at Closing [Member]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | shares				400			400

[1] The goodwill recognized is partially deductible for U.S. income tax purposes. The goodwill was allocated to the Optical Communications and All Other reporting segment in the amount of $213 million and $87 million, respectively.

[2] As Corning was a 57.5% shareholder at the date of acquisition, immediately preceding the acquisition of Samsung Corning Precision Materials, Corning recognized an asset and respective gain as part of the calculation of its previously held equity investment which included approximately $184 million attributed to its economic interest in the royalty contract.