Pegatron will move iPhone factories to U.S. conditionally: CEO

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Pegatron Corp. (和碩), one of the two Taiwanese companies that assemble iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc., said Tuesday that it would be willing to move that part of its operations to the United States once its client would absorb the additional costs.

Pegatron CEO Liao Syh-jang (廖賜政) was responding to questions raised at an investor conference about the company's plans for its assembly plants in light of the comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that American brands should keep their production on home soil.

"As long as there is demand, whether the clients are American or Chinese, Pegatron already has its production lines in place," Liao said. "If Trump institutes his Made in America proposal, it will be fine for Pegatron as long the client is willing to absorb the costs."

Pegatron is a main contract manufacturer of Apple's iPhones and iPads. Its factories are located in Taiwan, China, Mexico and the Czech Republic. Another Taiwanese company, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海), also assembles both iPhones and iPads for Apple.

At its investor conference Tuesday, Pegatron reported a net revenue of NT$1.158 trillion (US$37.4 billion) for 2016, an after-tax net income of NT$22.14 billion, and earnings per share of NT$7.5.

(By Pan Chih-yi and Elizabeth Hsu) ENDITEM/pc