Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday reported a 58.04 percent increase in consolidated revenue for last month from a year earlier to NT$5.099 billion (US$169.37 million), but a decline of 23.38 percent from November, ending four consecutive months of gains.
Last month’s figure was the lowest since June last year, when it stood at NT$4.08 billion, as the industry has entered its slow season, and was also a result of the soft order pull-in by Apple Inc and Chinese smartphone vendors, analysts said.
Its 20-megapixel lenses and high-end models, which command higher prices, accounted for 20 to 30 percent of its total sales last month, while its 10-megapixel lenses made up 40 to 50 percent and 8-megapixel lenses 10 to 20 percent, the Taichung-based smartphone lens set supplier said in a statement.
Largan is the world’s largest supplier of handset lens sets, focusing on high-end products for Apple’s iPhone and Android phone vendors, such as Huawei Technologies Ltd (華為) and Samsung Electronics Co.
It has a 38 percent global market share of handset lens sets, ahead of Sunny Optical Technology Group Co (舜宇光學) of China, which has a 28 percent market share, and other competitors including China’s AAC Technologies Holdings Inc (瑞聲科技), Japan-based Kantatsu Co, Sekonix Co of South Korea and Taiwan’s Genius Electronic Optical Co (玉晶光), DBS research showed.
Largan’s fourth-quarter consolidated revenue decreased 0.65 percent from a quarter earlier, but increased 47.59 percent from the same period in 2018 to NT$18.36 billion.
For the whole of last year, Largan reported record-high revenue of NT$60.75 billion, an annual growth of 21.61 percent and evidence that it remains a technology leader dominating the high-end smartphone market.
Analysts said that revenue for this month is expected to be lower due to seasonal factors and disruption from the Lunar New Year holiday, which is from Jan. 23 to Jan. 29.
Largan is to hold an investors’ conference on Thursday to release its earnings results for last quarter and give sales guidance for this quarter.
In the first three quarters of last year, the firm posted NT$20.17 billion in net profit, up 12.74 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT$150.37.
In the current smartphone specification upgrade cycle, large aperture and multi-lens design are expected to proliferate following the introduction of virtual reality applications in 5G handsets, and the lens count of handsets is forecast to grow this year from six to seven pieces for new smartphones, which would boost Largan’s profit margin and thus its share price over time, SinoPac Securities Investment Service Corp (永豐投顧) said.
Largan shares on Friday fell 2.98 percent to NT$4,880 in Taipei trading. They rose 55.52 percent last year, beating rallies of 46.78 percent for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and 28.25 percent for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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