AI boom sees Hon Hai report record August sales

Taipei, Sept. 5 (CNA) Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported Saturday its strongest-ever August sales amid robust global demand for artificial intelligence applications.

Data released by iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai, known globally as Foxconn, said it posted NT$921.77 billion (US$29.14 billion) in consolidated sales in August, soaring 51.98 percent from a year earlier.

The August sales were the second-highest for any single month in Hon Hai's history, only trailing NT$946.51 billion in July, the data indicated.

Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed significant year-on-year revenue growth amid accelerating AI momentum, while its smart consumer electronics division saw sales growing significantly as clients rebuilt inventories for the upcoming debut of new products and as shipment prices moved higher.

Hon Hai added that its electronics component and computing product divisions also reported strong year-on-year growth.

On a month-on-month basis, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking and electronics component divisions posted significant growth in August, while the smart consumer electronics and computing product divisions bucked the upturn, reporting a sales decline.

In the first eight months of this year, Hon Hai said its consolidated sales stood at NT$6.51 trillion, up 39.73 percent from a year earlier.

Looking ahead, Hon Hai said the third quarter is a traditional peak season for the information and communications technology industry, so it expects sales growth momentum will continue.

In a separate statement, Largan Precision Co., a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc., said its consolidated sales hit NT$5.01 billion in August, down 16 percent from a year earlier but up 3 percent from a month earlier.

In August, Largan said that its 20-megapixel and higher lenses -- which have higher profit margins -- accounted for 10-20 percent of total sales, while 10-20 megapixel lenses made up 60-70 percent, 8-megapixel lenses represented less than 10 percent, and other products made up 20-30 percent.

During the January-August period, Largan said its consolidated sales rose 4 percent from a year earlier, adding that traditional peak effects are expected to allow the company to report an increase in sales in September, with clients building up inventories to meet needs for the debut of new products.