Early pre-order data of Apple Inc’s new iPhones due to be released tomorrow show that consumers generally favor the larger-screen version, which is likely to benefit certain suppliers in Taiwan, CIMB Securities Ltd said yesterday.
The Hong Kong-based brokerage said the preference for the 5.5-inch screen iPhone 6 Plus over the 4.7-inch screen iPhone 6 would benefit system assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) and metal casing manufacturer Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準).
“In terms of components, we expect both Largan and Foxconn Tech to benefit most if consumers favor the iPhone 6 Plus, given that they have a greater share of the [components of the] high-end iPhone 6 Plus,” CIMB analysts led by Wang Wanli (王萬里) said in a research note.
Based on the CIMB’s supply-chain checks, Hon Hai is iPhone 6 Plus’ sole system assembler, Largan is the primary lens supplier of the iPhone 6, but sole supplier of the iPhone 6 Plus, while Foxconn Technology has a 50 percent metal casing order allocation for the iPhone 6 Plus.
There are debates if big screens suit consumers better, but CIMB said most consumers might consider the iPhone 6 Plus a bargain because the price difference between the two models is only US$100, and the iPhone 6 Plus offers better resolution, larger battery capacity and a camera lens supported with an optical image stabilizer (OIS).
The brokerage said the new iPhones could be the best-selling products in the iPhone’s history, given that the 4 million units ordered on the first day pre-orders were made available far exceeded the 2.5 million units booked for the iPhone 5S during the first week of pre-orders for the model last year.
“Although it is still too early to forecast consumer preferences, we believe it is safer for investors to focus on the iPhone 6 Plus supply chain companies because the share price downside risk of the iPhone 6 supply chain is higher,” Wang and his colleagues wrote.
The estimate is due to a sensitivity analysis showing that companies without iPhone 6P exposure — such as metal casing manufacturer Catcher Technology Co (可成) and Pegatron Corp (和碩), another system assembler — are more vulnerable to this change in consumer preference, CIMB analysts said.
However, CIMB said its major concern is not about end-market demand, but rather the potential imbalance in supply and demand in the second half of this year.
CIMB said if Apple is unable to fulfill the incremental iPhone 6 Plus demand in upcoming months due to potential yield and tight component supply issues, both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus supply chains would be affected, with metal casing makers likely suffering the most.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
RSS