Foxconn posts 50 per cent revenue growth in December on iPhone X shipments

Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of consumer electronics, posted 50 per cent year-on-year growth in December revenue mainly from iPhone X sales, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange on Thursday.

The growth in monthly revenue to NT$675 billion (US$30.47 billion) was attributed mainly to the fact that shipments of iPhone X were delayed to November 2017, and because the price of the new model was 20 per cent higher than iPhone 8 Plus.

Boosted by the strong performance in December, Foxconn saw its annual revenue increased 8 per cent year on year to NT$4.7 trillion in 2017, reversing the revenue decline of 2.8 per cent in 2016.

However, the strong revenue growth in December failed to lift its share price because investors are concerned that demand for iPhone X will be below expectations.

Foxconn’s financial results are scrutinised for hints to Apple’s health as the Taiwanese contract manufacturer is a key assembler of the US company’s products and the sole manufacturer of the iPhone X.

Taiwan’s Economic Daily reported, citing unnamed sources, that over Christmas Apple slashed its iPhone X sales forecast to 30 million units for the first quarter from a previous estimate of 50 million.