Major Apple supplier Foxconn sticks to 'significant growth' forecast for coming months

Foxconn is a major supplier of the iPhone. Foxconn said revenue last month reached T$741.2 billion (€21.5), the second highest ever for October.

Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and a major Apple supplier, has stuck to its previous outlook of strong year-end Christmas holiday sales, and said customers were buying well in China and the US. 

The fourth quarter is traditionally the hot season for Taiwan's tech companies as they race to supply smartphones, tablets, and other electronics to major vendors such as Apple for the year-end holiday period in Western markets.

Foxconn said in a statement on Sunday that with the second half of the year a "traditional peak season" for consumer tech products, operations "will ramp up sequentially", sticking to its outlook given last month.

"Significant growth outlook in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter remains unchanged," it added, without elaborating.

Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, said revenue last month reached T$741.2 billion (€21.5), the second highest ever for October, down 4.5% year-on-year, coming off a high base, and up 12.2% from September. 

Revenue in its smart consumer electronics products, including smartphones, saw "significant" growth month-on-month as new products drove demand and ahead of China's Singles Day shopping event this month and Thanksgiving holidays in the US, Foxconn said.

The company is Apple's biggest iPhone assembler. Apple, which in September launched a new series of iPhones, last week gave a sales forecast for the holiday quarter that missed Wall Street expectations, hurt by weak demand for iPads and wearables.

Foxconn will release third-quarter earnings in November when it will give more details on its outlook.

Foxconn's Taipei-listed shares have dropped 4% this year, giving it a market value of €38.7bn. 

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said last week the iPhone 15 models were doing well in China, as he sought to allay Wall Street fears that Apple was losing market share to a resurgent Huawei and other local smartphone sellers. "In mainland China, we set a quarterly record for the September quarter for iPhone," Mr Cook said.

Reuters