Taiwan’s Apple suppliers: Shares mixed despite record iPhone sales

Taiwan's Apple suppliers: Shares mixed despite record iPhone sales

TAIPEI — The stocks of major Apple suppliers in Taiwan performed unevenly Wednesday, the first trading session after the U.S. company announced record first-weekend sales of its new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.     

     The mixed session may reflect concerns that while more than 13 million of the new iPhones were sold — versus the initial 10 million when the previous models came out last year — the figure may be misleading. China, the world’s second-largest economy, was included in the first rollout this year, but not in 2014.   

     Taiwan’s markets were closed Monday and Tuesday due to a holiday and a typhoon. On Wednesday, major iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, the flagship company of Foxconn Technology Group, gained 1.5% to close at 85.60 New Taiwan dollars. Its main rival, Pegatron, fell 3.1% to NT$80.20. Chip producer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 2.4% to NT$130.

     Camera module supplier Largan Precision lost 6.2% to end the day at NT$2,560; Force Touch component supplier TPK shed 2.2% to NT$78.40. Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, an integrated-circuit packaging service provider, rose 2.2% to NT$35.30.

     The benchmark Taiex index closed at 8,181.24, up 0.6%.

Clouds forming

Recent announcements by Taiwanese technology companies appear to portend softening demand in the global smartphone market.

     On Sept. 23, TSMC raised its third-quarter guidance on foreign exchange gains, but it cut the forecast for the following quarter and warned of a sequential decline. The company said it expects to generate NT$211 billion to NT$213 billion in revenue during the July-September period; sales may fall to NT$198 billion to NT$204 billion in the following three months.

     Analysts say the fourth-quarter weakness stems from an ongoing inventory correction, brought about by sluggish global economic conditions.

     Meanwhile, Hon Hai’s August revenue dropped 6.2% from July to NT$292.91 billion, though it did grow year on year. Largan’s revenue came to NT$5.3 billion in August, up 1% from July.

     Pegatron, though, saw its revenue surge 13.4% on the month in August, to NT$75.77 billion. This may be a sign that the company is gaining market share.

Taiwan's Apple suppliers: Shares mixed despite record iPhone sales