Pegatron Corp (和碩), one of Apple Inc’s main iPhone assemblers, expects next quarter to be better than this quarter, supported by robust orders from its main client, a company executive said yesterday.
“We maintain our previous forecast that the next quarter will be even busier than this quarter,” company chief executive officer Jason Cheng (程建中) told reporters on the sidelines of a forum on the Internet of Things (IoT) in Taipei.
Cheng’s comments came after the market gave differing outlooks on sales of the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus after the products were unveiled last week. Hong Kong-based HSBC Global Research said in a note on Thursday last week that the market now estimates Apple’s new iPhone models to see a flattish year-on-year growth in unit sales next quarter, as strong iPhone unit growth over the past year has created a difficult barrier to surpass.
Cheng last month told investors that sales performance this quarter would grow significantly from last quarter’s NT$217.92 billion (US$6.66 billion) due to growing shipments of its main client’s new products.
He said Pegatron’s communication segment in the second half of this year is expected to perform as well as the same period last year, suggesting he is still positive about the sales outlook for the iPhone’s latest generation.
Commenting on the assembling progress in Pegatron’s plants in China, Cheng said the labor shortage issue in China was not as serious as last year, which indicates that China’s overall industry might be slowing down.
He said that due to the smoother-than-expected recruitment progress in China, Pegatron does not need to spend additional expense on labor recruitment this year.
While the company continues to recruit workers in China, Pegatron has been investing in industrial automation to raise its competitiveness in the industry, Cheng said, adding that when the company’s manufacturing process reduces its reliance on manpower, manufacturing could eventually be carried out anywhere, which could create more business possibilities for Pegatron.
Pegagtron’s stock price remained unchanged at NT$86.8 in Taipei trading yesterday, while the TAIEX gained 0.02 percent.
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