Largan Precision Co (大立光), which supplies camera lenses for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday said that its revenue last month contracted 13 percent month-on-month, citing weak demand from certain clients.
The weakness came amid market speculation that Apple’s iPhone X failed to stimulate replacement demand, given its significant price tag.
Consolidated revenue last month fell to a five-month low of NT$4.88 billion (US$165.29 million), compared with NT$5.61 billion in November last year, the company said in a statement.
“The decline was due to slow customer demand, which largely matched the company’s expectations [for last month],” a Largan investor relations official said by telephone.
The Taichung-based firm had earlier issued guidance for a decline in revenue for last month as shipment momentum was losing steam after hitting its peak in November.
As the electronics industry is entering the slack season of the first quarter, Largan has forecast that revenue would fall further this month, the official said.
However, the bright spot is that higher-priced 10-megapixel or greater camera lenses contributed a larger portion of shipments, accounting for between 70 percent and 80 percent of the company’s overall shipments last month, compared with between 60 percent and 70 percent in November, the statement said.
Last quarter, Largan’s revenue grew 7.84 percent quarter-on-quarter from NT$14.92 billion to NT$16.09 billion, a 2 percent increase from NT$15.72 billion a year earlier, company data showed.
For the whole of last year, Largan said that overall revenue grew 10 percent to NT$53.13 billion, compared with NT$48.35 billion in 2016.
Separately yesterday, Catcher Technology Co (可成), a metal casing supplier for iPhones, also said that it experienced a setback in revenue last month.
Catcher’s revenue dropped 16.3 percent to NT$9.3 billion, compared with NT$11.1 billion in November, company data showed.
The company said in a statement that the decline was caused by clients’ year-end inventory adjustment.
Catcher’s revenue last quarter jumped 19.6 percent quarter-on-quarter from NT$27.42 billion to NT$32.79 billion, due to an increase in shipments, company data showed.
For the whole of last year, revenue climbed to a record high of NT$93.3 billion, an annual growth of 17.9 percent from NT$79.11 billion in 2016, the data showed.
Meanwhile, HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported that revenue for last month dropped 29.01 percent monthly and 37.25 percent annually to NT$4.02 billion.
HTC, which sold a portion of its smartphone assets to Google for US$1.1 billion in September last year, reported that overall revenue for the whole of last year contracted 20.52 percent to NT$62.12 billion. According to company data, that represented the lowest level in 12 years.
In Taipei trading yesterday, Largan shares declined 0.85 percent to close at NT$4,100, while Catcher shares remained unchanged at NT$335 and HTC shares fell 0.53 percent to NT$75.2, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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