Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and primary iPhone assembler for Apple, anticipates a decline in first-quarter revenue compared to the previous year. The projection follows a slowdown in market demand during the preceding quarter.
Traditionally, the first quarter is quieter for Taiwan’s tech companies, marking a departure from the intense production activity in the year-end holiday period, where they rush to supply smartphones, tablets, and other electronics to major vendors like Apple for Western markets.
In its statement, Foxconn (2317.TW) noted that this year’s first quarter is expected to mirror the subdued trends observed in the same period over the past three years, with a year-on-year decrease in revenue. However, the company did not provide specific numerical guidance.
Last year’s first quarter saw record-high revenue, attributed to factories returning to normal operations post-COVID pandemic disruptions.
Foxconn disclosed that its revenue for the last month amounted to T$460.1 billion ($14.84 billion), surpassing expectations despite a 26.9% year-on-year decline. For the fourth quarter, revenue contracted by 5.4% year-on-year to T$1.851 trillion, outperforming the T$1.827 trillion LSEG SmartEstimate, which accords greater weight to consistently accurate analyst forecasts.
In the smart consumer electronics segment, encompassing smartphones, fourth-quarter revenue exhibited a “flattish” year-on-year performance due to subdued market demand, according to Foxconn.
This news comes amid recent concerns about iPhone demand, reflected in a decline in Apple’s stock price following two analyst downgrades earlier in the week. Despite this, Apple remains the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization.
Foxconn is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter earnings on March 14, along with an update on its outlook. The company’s shares closed flat on Friday, in contrast to a marginal 0.2% drop in the broader market.
