Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which makes iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc, yesterday posted its second consecutive monthly decline in revenues for last month on the back of weak seasonal demand and lower iPhone shipments ahead of the launch of a new model next quarter.
Revenue contracted 4.23 percent to NT$241.09 billion (US$8 billion) last month on an unconsolidated basis, compared with NT$251.74 billion in April, a company statemen said. That was annual growth of 20.21 percent from NT$200.56 billion in May last year.
In the first five months, Hon Hai made NT$1.28 trillion in revenue, up 33.69 percent from NT$959.51 billion in the same period last year.
Hon Hai is aiming to grow revenue by 15 percent this year from NT$2.77 trillion last year, company chairman Terry Guo (郭台銘) told reporters last month in Shanghai.
Barclays expects Hon Hai to grow its revenue at a faster annual rate of between 17 percent and 20 percent, fueled by demand for Apple’s new products in the second half of this year.
Separately, Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), a flat-panel maker partly owned by Hon Hai, yesterday said its revenue rose 9.3 percent to NT$39.52 billion last month, from April’s NT$36.1 billion, on stabilizing panel prices. That was down 2.13 percent from NT$40.38 billion in May of last year.
Shipments of PC and TV LCD panels grew 9.6 percent to 12.22 million units last month from 11.15 million units in April.
DisplaySearch vice president David Hsieh (謝勤益) said on Tuesday that LCD TV panel prices increased in April and last month, reflecting tightening supply.
Supplies of 32-inch, 39-inch, 40-inch, 42-inch and 50-inch TV panels are tight, Hsieh said.
As these supply constraints and demand factors would continue for several months, it is likely that a panel shortage this month would pave the way for tightness in the third quarter, Hsieh said.
Separately, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) said its revenue increased 3.4 percent last month to NT$31.4 billion from NT$30.36 billion. The figure represented an annual decline of 6.6 percent from NT$33.6 billion last year. Shipments of PC and TV panels rose 1.9 percent to 10.22 million units.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
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