Apple supplier Foxconn misses March quarter estimates amid iPhone sales downturn in China

The world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer reported a net profit of NT$22 billion (US$679 million) in the first quarter. While that was up more than 70 per cent, it missed analysts’ average estimate of NT$29.1 billion.

The miss reflects in part the heightened expectations around AI that helped propel Foxconn’s shares more than 60 per cent higher this year.

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Apple supplier Foxconn to build ‘AI factories’ using US hardware leader Nvidia’s chips and software

Apple supplier Foxconn to build ‘AI factories’ using US hardware leader Nvidia’s chips and software

Foxconn, however, is getting a boost from big investments into AI infrastructure such as data centres. Company executives maintained the 40 per cent growth outlook for the AI server business this year.
On Tuesday, Japanese subsidiary Sharp Corp said it was divesting its camera module and semiconductor business, and turning a key display plant in Sakai, a city in Osaka prefecture, into an AI data centre.
Foxconn’s AI business has proven a bright spot in an otherwise struggling operation that remains tied to the smartphone market.

Investors hope booming AI demand could help the world’s largest iPhone assembler diversify its business away from Apple, which still accounts for more than half of Foxconn’s sales.

Foxconn Technology Group, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is the world’s biggest assembler of Apple’s iPhones. Photo: Shutterstock

Foxconn also indicated strong demand for cloud computing and networking products during the current quarter in presentation materials released before its earnings call. But revenue from consumer electronics should remain broadly flat.

Demand for iPhones in mainland China fell about 27 per cent in the first three months of this year, according to official government data, even though Apple said its iPhone business grew in the world’s second-largest economy.

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