Largan Precision Co (大立光), Taiwan’s leading maker of handset lenses, posted NT$1.4 billion (US$46.6 million) in revenue last month, down 9 percent from a month ago as customers trimmed orders amid macroeconomic uncertainty.
On a year-on-year basis, revenues was up 10 percent from last year, according to a company statement released on Saturday.
The lens maker posted record sales for six consecutive months until September, but momentum slowed down last month.
The Taichung-based company — which counts HTC Corp (宏達電), Apple Inc, Nokia Oyj and Research In Motion Ltd among its major customers — told an investors conference on Oct. 20 that order visibility was low for the fourth quarter amid faltering economic indicators, with a majority of customers adjusting downward their shipment forecasts.
The company added that it had only received orders for one month, but not beyond.
Despite usually upbeat sales during the fourth quarter, this year it appears sales will not be brisk, it said.
Revenues for the first 10 months of the year hit NT$13.38 billion, up 37 percent from the corresponding period last year, according to the statement.
Mobile phone lenses accounted for 96 percent of total sales for the January-to-October period.
Three percent of sales were derived from digital camera lenses and 1 percent from multifunctional printers, the company statement said.
KINKO OPTICAL
Separately, Kinko Optical Co (今國光), a supplier of glass-lens kits used in products including Canon Inc’s digital single-lens--reflex cameras, on Friday posted record revenues of NT$651 million last month.
The figure was up 13.4 percent from a month ago and a jump of 28.35 percent from the same month last year, with Kinko saying it has ramped up new production capacity and gained strong orders.
Kinko’s cumulative sales for the first 10 months of this year totaled NT$4.94 billion, up 18.05 percent from last year, the company said.
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