Foxconn’s Q3 profit slips

taipei — Taiwan’s Foxconn reported a 39 per cent slide in quarterly profit, far worse than expected, as the assembler of Apple products saw margins squeezed by production bottlenecks for the iPhone X.

While the 10th anniversary version of the iPhone has seen parts suppliers struggle with specifications for new features such as facial recognition and edge-to-edge display, red-hot demand for the product, which went on sale this month, is expected to lead to a relatively rapid recovery for Foxconn.

Apple has predicted strong holiday sales and said it is happy with how manufacturing of the iPhone X is progressing, although most analysts think it will likely take until next year or early spring for the tech giant to meet demand. The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry, said thirdquarter net profit tumbled to T$21 billion ($700 million), some 42 per cent below an average estimate from analysts. It was Foxconn’s first quarterly decline in a year and marked its biggest profit drop for a quarter since at least 2009. Revenue was flat.

“I think in the fourth quarter we expect to see a recovery because utilisation will get better given the iPhone ramp-up,” said Daiwa analyst Kylie Huang. “So November/December should be better but still will be impacted overall in the fourth quarter.”

Some analysts also attributed the profit slide to an appreciation in the value of the yuan as well as to labour idled due to a later-thanusual launch for Apple’s new smartphone. —