Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is expected to be the sole assembler of Apple Inc’s new 4-inch iPhone next year, KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) said in a client note on Tuesday.
As there is still demand for 4-inch iPhones, KGI analyst Kuo Ming-chi (郭明錤) said Apple might begin to mass produce an upgraded 4-inch iPhone that would be based on iPhone 5S specifications in the first half of next year.
“As Hon Hai was the sole assembler for the iPhone 5S, we believe the company has a very high chance of receiving the order to assemble the upgraded 4-inch iPhone next year,” Kuo wrote.
That would help drive the company’s sales in the slow season at the beginning of next year, he said.
Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) in June told shareholders that the company has a close relationship with Apple, in response to questions over the possibility of losing iPhone orders to rival Pegatron Corp (和碩).
The new 4-inch iPhone would be equipped an A9 processor, Kuo said, adding that he forecast shipments of between 20 million and 30 million units next year.
Apple would still allocate orders for A9 processors to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, Kuo said.
However, TSMC might become the sole supplier of A10 processors used in the new generation of iPhones, boosting the Taiwanese chipmaker’s sales in the second half of next year, Kuo said.
“TSMC’s InFo packaging technology for chips is obviously better than Samsung’s; therefore, it is very likely that TSMC would be the sole provider of A10 chips for the next-generation iPhone expected to be released next year,” Kuo said.
The next-generation iPhone might have two different RAM specifications, with the 4.7-inch model having 2GB RAM and the 5.5-inch one 3GB RAM, he said.
Hon Hai shares yesterday rose 1.03 percent to NT$88.70, while TSMC’s stock price surged 3.58 percent to NT$144.50.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
Taiwan has enough crude oil reserves for more than 100 days and sufficient natural gas reserves for more than 11 days, both above the regulatory safety requirement, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, adding that the government would prioritize domestic price stability as conflicts in the Middle East continue. Overall, energy supply for this month is secure, and the government is continuing efforts to ensure sufficient supply for next month, Kung told reporters after meeting with representatives from business groups at the ministry in Taipei. The ministry has been holding daily cross-ministry meetings at the Executive Yuan to ensure
RATIONING: The proposal would give the Trump administration ample leverage to negotiate investments in the US as it decides how many chips to give each country US officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence (AI) chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of 200,000 chips or more, according to a document seen by Reuters. The rules are not yet final and could change. They would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since US President Donald Trump’s administration said it rescinded its predecessor’s so-called AI diffusion rules. Those rules sought to keep a significant amount of AI
A new worry has been rippling across the stock market lately: Entire businesses, not just their employees, might be thrown out of work. While most economists say fears of an artificial intelligence (AI) job apocalypse are overblown, seismic shifts have happened in the past after big tech breakthroughs. The IT revolution of the 1990s led to a surge in productivity that sped up the US economy for several years. It also rendered companies or even industries largely redundant — from travel agents and stockbrokers to classified advertising and newspapers, or video rental stores. Economists expect AI would deliver higher productivity,
RSS