Hon Hai Q4 sales top NT$2 trillion on iPhone 12 launch

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported its latest sales data Tuesday, saying its revenue for the fourth quarter of last year passed NT$2 trillion (US$70.42 billion) after the iPhone 12 models went on global sale in late October.

In a statement, Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn on the global market, said it posted about NT$2.008 trillion in consolidated sales, a quarterly high and up 55.45 percent from NT$1.29 trillion in the third quarter. It was also the first time the world's largest contract electronics maker reported quarterly sales of more than NT$2 trillion.

As one of the most important suppliers to Apple Inc., market analysts said, Hon Hai received a boost from the launch of the newest iPhone models, all of which support 5G communications, in the October-December period.

Apple brought out four new iPhone models -- the 4-inch iPhone 12 mini, 6.1-inch iPhone 12, 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, and 6.7 inch iPhone 12 Pro Max.

As Hon Hai is the sole assembler of the larger iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, which have been well received by the market, the benefits were clearer in the fourth quarter, analysts said.

In December, Hon Hai's consolidated sales stood at NT$713.78 billion, a new monthly high and the first time it recorded revenue of more than NT$700 billion, company data showed. December sales also rose 4.76 percent from a month earlier and soared 32.3 percent from a year earlier, the data indicated.

On a year-on-year basis, Hon Hai said, its consumer electronics division achieved the highest sales growth in December, ahead of the computer division, the electronic components division and the cloud-based network devices.

In 2020, Hon Hai generated NT$5.36 trillion in consolidated sales, up 0.31 percent from a year earlier. Analysts said the small increase reflected the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of the year, but the company's momentum started to accelerate in the second half, in particular in November and December.

Looking ahead, analysts expect Hon Hai to continue to benefit from iPhone 12 shipments and report a 35 percent year-on-year increase in sales, to more than NT$1.25 trillion. However, slow season effects are expected to push down first quarter's sales by about 30 percent from the fourth quarter.

In 2021, analysts expect Hon Hai's consolidated sales to hit a new high of NT$5.6 trillion, while the company's net profit is expected to rise more than 18 percent to almost NT$125 billion with earnings per share of NT$9.