Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler, yesterday raised its revenue forecast for this quarter, thanks to robust demand for communications products during the holiday season.
“The second half of the year is the peak season for the information and communications technology industry. Revenue performance in the first two months of the fourth quarter has been slightly higher than expected,” Hon Hai said in a statement.
During the first two months of the fourth quarter, Hon Hai generated NT$1.391 trillion in combined revenue, company data showed.
Photo: RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA-EFE
The company said the outlook for the fourth quarter should be better than its original guidance of “significant growth” from the third quarter, when revenue increased 18 percent to NT$1.54 trillion (US$48.9 billion) from the previous quarter.
The company’s revenue last month grew 17.95 percent to NT$650.02 billion from NT$551.09 billion a year earlier, the first annual growth in 10 months.
Last month’s revenue was the second-highest November revenue in the company’s history, it said.
The company attributed the strong growth to resilient demand for smartphones, smart consumer electronics and electronic components.
Additionally, the company benefited from higher order allocations of consumer electronics components and rising auto electronics shipments, it said.
On a monthly basis, last month’s revenue contracted 12.3 percent, with all four major categories — components, computing products, cloud and networking products, and smart consumer electronics — showing mild declines in sales due to either a relatively high comparison base or cautious sentiment toward the market outlook.
In the first 11 months of the year, Hon Hai accumulated NT$5.7 trillion in revenue, down 4.89 percent from NT$5.99 trillion in the same period last year. For the whole of this year, Hon Hai said it expected revenue to slide slightly from last year.
Last month, the company told investors that it held a “neutral” view about the electronics industry’s prospects next year, as high inflation, tight monetary policy, decelerating global economic growth and lingering geopolitical risks continue to weigh on private spending, while an escalation in geopolitical tensions poses another concern.
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