Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s top smartphone lens maker, yesterday said its revenue for the fourth quarter last year fell to NT$4 billion (US$132 million), down 9 percent from the prior quarter.
However, the figure was an increase of 3 percent from the same period of 2010, according to a company statement.
YEAR-ON-YEAR
The company said its revenue last month was NT$1.3 billion, up 1 percent month-on-month, but down 2 percent year-on-year.
The Greater Taichung-based company — which counts phone makers such as HTC Corp (宏達電), Apple Inc, Nokia Oyj and Research In Motion Ltd as major customers — had said in October that order visibility was low for the fourth quarter amid economic uncertainty in Europe and the US, with a majority of customers adjusting their shipment forecasts downward.
Analysts — including those from Daiwa Capital Markets — have said that Largan’s revenue would be impacted by HTC, which is losing market share to Apple Inc’s iPhone 4S.
This is because Largan delivers high-pixel lenses to HTC’s mid to high-end smartphones and derives 13 percent to 15 percent of total sales from Taiwan-based HTC.
REVENUE GROWTH
Despite seeing weaker fourth-quarter momentum, Largan posted strong revenue growth last year and saw sales jump 29 percent to NT$16 billion — which was a record high.
Shares of Largan inched up 0.69 percent on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday to close at NT$587.
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