By Sherry Qin


Foxconn Technology Group's first-quarter net profit surged on a low base, but revenue declined as demand for consumer electronics weakened.

The Taiwan-based contract manufacturer, known for assembling Apple's iPhones, said Tuesday that net profit rose 72% from a year earlier to 22.01 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$679 million).

That missed the estimate of NT$28.76 billion in a poll of analysts by FactSet. The profit jump came on a low base last year, when Foxconn took a NT$17.3 billion write-down related to its 34% stake in Japanese electronics maker Sharp.

First-quarter revenue fell 9% to NT$1.324 trillion amid lower consumer electronics demand. Because of the pandemic, production and shipment at Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou, China, were postponed to the first quarter of last year, creating a high base of comparison. However, its cloud and networking segment posted solid revenue growth thanks to robust artificial-intelligence server demand.

Foxconn has been taking steps in recent years to diversify its lines of businesses to include electric vehicles and AI. It is expanding production in countries such as India to reduce concentration in China.


Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-14-24 0251ET