Largan Precision Co (大立光), a major camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday posted a sequential decline of 16.5 percent in net profit for last quarter due to massive foreign exchange losses, even though operating income more than doubled over the period.
Net profit dipped to NT$4.97 billion (US$159.8 million) compared with NT$5.95 billion in the third quarter, the company said, and it booked NT$2.85 billion in foreign exchange losses, it added.
On an annual basis, net profit jumped 23.63 percent from NT$4.02 billion. Operating income rose to NT$7.91 billion from NT$3.88 billion a quarter earlier and NT$6.77 billion the prior year.
Photo: David Chang, epa/efe
Earnings per share were NT$37.25 last quarter, compared with NT$44.6 the previous quarter and NT$30.1 a year earlier, the company said.
A bright spot is gross margin, which bounced back to 52.8 percent last quarter from 42.55 percent in the prior quarter, the first pickup in a year, attributable to improved yield rates and favorable production portfolios.
The Gross margin had dropped below 50 percent for the first time in the company’s history during the January-March period of last year. Its recovery — although still lower than 55.87 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 — was due to Largan’s breakthrough in making advanced tetraprism periscope lenses, which were first used in iPhone 15 Pro Max last year.
This year, more smartphone vendors are to adopt tetraprism periscope lenses, Largan chief executive officer Adam Lin (林恩平) told an online investors’ conference yesterday.
The company received some orders for better-priced camera lenses last quarter, with some of them extending into this quarter, Lin said.
Looking forward, Lin said Largan’s revenue this quarter would be lower than the previous
quarter as the electronics industry enters its traditional slow season. Lower factory utilization would also weigh on the company’s gross margin this quarter, he said.
Overall, the slowdown “is no different from previous ones,” Lin said. “Demand looks okay.”
Customers’ inventories are still at healthy levels, he said.
There are early positive signs in the market, Lin said, noting that some smartphone vendors are gaining confidence about high-end smartphone demand this year. Largan has landed some design-in projects for camera lens upgrades, he said.
When asked about the uptake of advanced periscope lenses, Lin said more customers plan to adopt them this year.
Last year as a whole, Largan’s net profit fell 20.87 percent to NT$17.9 billion, compared with NT$22.62 billion in 2022. Earnings per share slid to NT$134.18 from NT$169.47 and gross margin deteriorated to 48.71 percent from 54.7 percent.
Shipments of 10-megapixel lenses made up the bulk of the company’s shipments last year, accounting for between 50 and 60 percent, while those with more than 20 megapixels made up between 10 and 20 percent, the company said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
RSS