Smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday said that sales last month surged 43 percent from February to NT$3.76 billion (US$131 million) thanks to more working days.
However, sales fell 6 percent on a yearly basis, but the decline was much smaller than February’s 19 percent annual slump, company data showed.
Largan said sales this month could be lower than last month’s due to weaker demand from many of its customers.
Photo: David Chang, EPA-EFE
The global smartphone market has shown signs of weakness amid rising inflationary pressures, as well as concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, analysts said.
Nikkei Asia late last month reported that Apple Inc has scaled back its orders for its iPhone SE, which entered the market just last month, as well as its flagship iPhone 13 series.
It also reduced orders for its Airpods wireless earphones, Nikkei said.
Photo: CNA
Largan counts Apple among its customers.
The company said its products used in automotive electronics made a meaningful contribution to sales last month.
In the first quarter of this year, Largan’s consolidated sales dropped by 14 percent from a year ago to NT$10.13 billion, which analysts attributed to an increase in competition.
Separately, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported better-than-expected sales for last month, which increased 11.51 percent month-on-month and 15 percent year-on-year to NT$507.4 billion.
It was the best March figure in the company’s history, Hon Hai said.
The company attributed the performance to all of its four major business groups — smart consumer electronics, cloud and networking technology, computing products, and components and other products — posting double-digit percentage growth monthly and annually.
On the back of an improved supply of components, cumulative sales in the first quarter also hit a record for the period, rising 4.83 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.41 trillion, the company said.
However, sales fell 25.5 percent on a quarterly basis, it added.
“Current visibility is roughly in line with market expectations,” Hon Hai said. “However, effects on demand and supply from the geopolitical situation, the [COVID-19] pandemic, inflation and the supply chain situation need to be closely monitored.”
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-hui
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday. Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the legislature’s Economics Committee that although Grab submitted its application on March 27, the case has not been officially accepted because required materials remain incomplete. Once the filing is finalized, the FTC would launch a formal probe into the deal, focusing on issues such as cross-shareholding and potential restrictions on market competition, Chen told lawmakers. Grab last month announced that it would acquire
RSS