Wistron Corp (緯創), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, yesterday reported its highest revenue for last month in its history, on the back of demand for smart devices and notebooks.
The firm’s revenue jumped 32.7 percent year-on-year to NT$54.69 billion (US$1.76 billion) last month, marking the fourth consecutive month of double-digit percentage annual growth, according to Wistron’s filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Market analysts said they believed Wistron’s monthly result reflected the strong sales of Apple’s larger-sized iPhone 7 Plus, which the Taiwanese manufacturer shares the assembly of with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
The smaller-sized iPhone 7 is assembled by Hon Hai and Pegatron Corp (和碩), analysts said.
Wistron was reportedly picked by Apple as the first iPhone manufacturer in India, the Times of India reported last month.
The Karnataka State Government issued a statement welcoming Apple’s proposal to make iPhones in the state, the article said.
Wistron in November last year approved a US$33.5 million investment in its after-sales subsidiary in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka State, in an attempt to build a smart devices plant for the Indian market.
The company in the same month said the plant was expected to begin production for a smart-devices client at the end of this quarter at the earliest.
Wistron declined to comment on the Indian report or to provide more information about its plant in India, saying the matter involves clients’ private information.
Looking forward, Wistron said it expects its notebook shipments, which accounted for 40 percent of its revenues of NT$659.41 billion last year, to drop by between 20 percent and 25 percent this quarter from last quarter’s 5.6 million units.
However, notebook shipments this quarter are estimated to expand from 3.8 million units from the same period last year, the firm said, citing an order forecast provided by clients.
Wistron shares dropped 0.19 percent to close at NT$26.8 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.12 percent.
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