Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms.
The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said.
The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance.
Photo: Reuters
Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to put greater focus on building data center server racks and other equipment for AI clusters. That has helped its stock reach a record high this year.
With Apple’s business making up more than half of its revenue, its investors are watching the Taiwanese company for clues on iPhone sales. Hon Hai posted about a 10 percent plunge in first-quarter revenue, in part because Apple’s flagship device underperformed.
The second quarter remains a traditional off-peak season and a transition period for major products, Hon Hai said.
Visibility for the second quarter is approximately in line with market expectations, with operations outlook for the period expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth, Hon Hai said.
“Hon Hai may face hurdles boosting its iPhone-related revenue in 2024 given first-quarter’s downbeat demand and the swirl of unknowns clouding the broader picture. Despite being the iPhone’s largest producer, Hon Hai’s margins may be at increased risk from diminished scale economies within the iPhone business, and the steady capacity relocation to India,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Tseng (曾緒良) said.
In the first four months of the year, Hon Hai’s cumulative sales totaled NT$1.83 trillion, down 3.11 percent from NT$1.89 trillion a year earlier, company data showed.
Separately, Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday reported sales of NT$3.46 billion for last month, up 0.18 percent from March and 20.1 percent higher than a year earlier, which was in line with the company’s expectations.
The smartphone camera lens supplier’s cumulative sales in the first four months were NT$14.77 billion, up 23.01 percent from a year earlier, Largan said in a statement.
The company said sales last month grew for the ninth consecutive month on an annual basis and is expected shipment momentum to stay strong this month.
High-end products of 20 megapixels or greater accounted for 20 to 30 percent of the company’s sales last month, and between lenses of 10 and 20 megapixels accounted for 50 to 60 percent of sales, while 8 megapixel products accounted for less than 10 percent, and products in the “other” category made up 10 to 20 percent, it said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
RSS