Foxconn parent company Hon Hai Group, the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer and Apple's (AAPL.US) largest iPhone assembler, said on Monday it expected first-quarter revenue to fall year-on-year due to a higher base. Traditionally, the first quarter is duller than the previous quarter. Hon Hai Group said in a statement that its overall operations in the first quarter of this year "are gradually entering the traditional off-season, and seasonal performance is expected to be similar to the past three years."
The company added that this is also related to the increase in shipments due to the resumption of factory operations after the epidemic in early 2023, resulting in a higher comparison base.
Hon Hai Group said that "the outlook for the first quarter of this year is expected to be lower year-on-year" and reiterated its previous guidance. The company did not give a numerical forecast.
In the statement, Hon Hai Group also announced its January revenue. Data show that the company's revenue last month reached NT$522.1 billion (US$16.65 billion), which was the second highest ever for the same period, with the highest revenue being in January last year. It achieved a month-on-month growth of 13.5%, but a year-on-year decrease of 20.9%.
The company said revenue from cloud and networking products increased significantly in January compared with a year earlier due to the launch of new customer products, but revenue from computing products fell slightly as demand for PCs slowed.
Hon Hai Group Chairman Liu Yangwei said on Sunday that he expected the company's business this year to be "slightly better" than last year, but the company faces a shortage of AI server chips at a time when demand for AI servers is booming.
Hon Hai Group will announce its fourth-quarter results on March 14 and will also update its financial forecast at that time.