TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker and a major Apple supplier, is anticipating strong year-end holiday sales following a drop in September sales. The fourth quarter is typically a busy period for Taiwan’s tech companies as they strive to meet the demand for smartphones, tablets, and other electronics from major vendors like Apple for the year-end holiday season in Western markets.
Last month, Apple released a new series of iPhones featuring a new titanium shell, a faster chip, and improved video game capabilities. However, the prices for the new iPhone 15 remained unchanged, reflecting the global smartphone slump.
In a statement, Foxconn mentioned that the second half of the year is regarded as a “traditional peak season” for consumer tech products and expects operations to ramp up accordingly. It added that the fourth quarter should exhibit significant growth compared to the third quarter, without providing further details.
Although Foxconn beat estimates for second-quarter earnings due to the flourishing artificial intelligence sector, the company remains cautious about the global economic uncertainties for this year.
Last month’s revenue for Foxconn amounted to T$660.7 billion ($20.46 billion), marking a year-on-year decrease of 19.7% but an impressive increase of 60.1% from August. Third-quarter revenue witnessed an 11.7% decline compared to the same period last year, but an increase of 18.4% from the previous quarter.
Foxconn attributed the month-on-month growth in revenue for its smart consumer electronics products, including smartphones, to new product launches in September. Despite being known as the world’s biggest iPhone assembler, Foxconn has been actively diversifying into electric vehicles.
The company reported that rising shipments of auto components contributed to significant year-on-year growth in its components and other products business. However, September’s year-on-year revenue for cloud and networking products, which includes servers, declined due to “conservative customer pull-in”.
Foxconn is set to release its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 14, where it will provide more information about its financial outlook. On Thursday, ahead of the release of its September sales report, Foxconn’s shares on the Taipei-listed market closed up 0.5%, compared to a 1.1% gain for the broader market. The company’s shares have risen by 3.6% this year, resulting in a market value of $44.1 billion.
($1 = 32.2860 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sarah Wu; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
