Taiwan’s Foxconn, Apple’s greatest iPhone assembler and the world’s largest contract electronics maker, expects its enterprise this yr to be “barely higher” than final yr however is going through a scarcity of chips for AI servers.
“We did fairly properly final yr, though we had a reasonably massive write off within the first quarter,” Foxconn Chairman Liu Younger-way stated on Sunday, referring to a writedown associated to its 34% stake in Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp.
“As for this yr’s outlook, I believe it may be barely higher than final yr,” Liu informed reporters on the sidelines of the corporate’s annual worker get together in Taipei.
Foxconn in November stated it had a “comparatively conservative and impartial” outlook for 2024.
Demand for synthetic intelligence (AI) servers will “in fact” be good, however international financial uncertainty given geopolitical issues will have an effect on shopper product demand, he added.
“One (market section) shall be good, however very many others – uh-oh.”
Apple on Thursday forecast a drop in iPhone gross sales and focused total income USD 6 billion beneath Wall Avenue expectations as its China enterprise took a success.
The outcomes confirmed some analysts’ considerations that the corporate’s signature product is shedding floor in the important thing Asian market the place customers are shopping for foldable telephones and telephones from Huawei, powered by a China-made chip.
Liu stated manufacturing capability for chips for servers is restricted, even with sturdy demand.
“When it comes as much as maintaining with demand, maybe there must be new factories,” he added.
Foxconn, formally referred to as Hon Hai Precision Business Co Ltd, will report fourth quarter earnings subsequent month when it’ll additionally replace its outlook for this yr. It releases January gross sales information on Monday.
Foxconn’s shares have slid 2.4% to date this yr, in contrast with a 0.7% achieve for the broader market.
