Largan Precision Co (大立光) and Catcher Technology Co (可成), two Taiwanese suppliers for Apple Inc, on Friday recorded a monthly record high in sales for last month, which analysts attributed to orders from Apple for the next-generation iPhone Inc.
Last month, smartphone camera lens maker Largan posted NT$3.96 billion (US$132 million) in consolidated sales, up 13 percent from a month earlier, and also up 65 percent year-on-year, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Metal casing supplier Catcher recorded NT$5.01 billion in consolidated sales, up 7.8 percent from a month ago, and up 55.1 percent from the same month a year earlier, the company said in a separate filing to the stock exchange.
Analysts said Largan and Catcher are expected to benefit from an uptick in orders from Apple in the second half of this year due to the predicted demand for the iPhone 6.
The two companies’ sales growth reflected Apple’s efforts to build up component inventories ahead of the launch of the new iPhone, they said.
Apple is widely expected to introduce two iPhone models with larger displays at an event scheduled for Tuesday. The new products are likely to go on sale on Sept. 19, according to analysts.
Commenting on its sales for last month, Largan said that with its clients launching or preparing to launch new flagship smartphones in the third quarter, demand for advanced camera lenses is on the rise, in particular 13-megapixel lenses.
As the new iPhones are equipped with more sophisticated cameras, Largan has seen the average selling price of its products increase, analysts said.
Catcher said last month’s jump in sales resulted from new smartphone models unveiled by its major clients, and growth momentum is expected to continue to the fourth quarter, which it forecasts to be its best quarter of this year.
In the first eight months of the year, Largan’s consolidated sales saw an increase of 57 percent from the same period a year earlier to NT$24.30 billion, while those of Catcher rose 26.9 percent year-on-year to NT$33.38 billion.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last