iPhone maker Foxconn reports weak financial results

Hon Hai Precision Industry’s revenue climbed by just 3.9% last quarter, highlighting how economic worries are restricting demand for iPhones and other consumer goods.

The world’s largest Apple gadget manufacturer, widely known as Foxconn, posted sales of NT$1.46 trillion (R858 billion) for the typically sluggish March quarter.

Even yet, this is a significant decrease from the previous three months, when a Covid outbreak sparked demonstrations at Apple’s main Zhengzhou site in central China, delaying iPhone production for weeks.

That complex, known as “iPhone City” since it is the largest global production location for Apple’s flagship handset, only reopened in January.

Investors are unsure how the popularity of iPhones and mobile devices will fare this year. Xiaomi’s smartphone sales fell 26% in the fourth quarter as customers around the world delayed spending on products such as electronics due to rising prices.

Manufacturers like as Foxconn, which also produces iPads and other devices for many of the world’s largest brands, are rethinking an electronics supply chain centred on China.

The Taiwanese company intends to invest over $700 million in a new factory in India to increase manufacturing there, as more manufacturers relocate away from China to avoid the consequences from rising Washington-Beijing tensions. — 2023 Bloomberg L.P.