ROBUST SHOWING:
Double-digit percentage increases have helped visibility for this quarter to be better than forecast, while its Mexico plant struggles with a cyberattack
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By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporter
Major iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted better-than-expected revenue for last month, and said its business visibility for this quarter has improved since April.
Revenue last month rose 2.33 percent month-on-month and 9.39 percent year-on-year to NT$497.78 billion (US$16.94 billion), the highest for May in the company’s history, Hon Hai said in a statement.
Last month’s robust showing was aided by double-digit percentage increases in sales from its smart consumer electronics business, and its cloud-based and networking products business, as well as the effects of better supply chain management, said the company, which also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團).
Photo: CNA
In the first five months of this year, cumulative revenue rose 4.07 percent to NT$2.39 trillion from NT$2.298 trillion in the same period last year, Hon Hai said, adding that it was a record for the period.
Hon Hai said a double-digit percentage expansion in sales from its cloud-based networking business helped it perform well during the January-to-May period, while computing products, components and other products continued to post significant growth in sales.
While the COVID-19 pandemic caused “different impacts on the supply chain” in the second quarter, the company’s visibility for this quarter is “better than market expectations,” Hon Hai said.
However, its outlook for supply and demand is still subject to developments related to the pandemic, geopolitical situations and inflation, it said.
Separately, Hon Hai said that operations at one of its plants in Mexico have gradually returned to normal following a cyberattack on Tuesday.
The Foxconn Baja California plant in Tijuana performed an update on its software to improve cybersecurity, and steps have been taken to clear a production backlog created by the cyberattack, the company said on Friday.
The attack is unlikely to have a significant effect on the plant’s overall operations, and the disruption caused to operations is to be handled through adjustments to production capacity, Hon Hai said.
The Tijuana plant was established in October 1985 to focus on material processing and assembly operations.
News of the cyberattack was first reported by San Francisco-based technology news Web site TechCruch on Thursday.
LockBit, a “ransomware as a service” operation, claimed responsibility for the attack and had threatened to leak data stolen from Hon Hai unless the company pays a ransom by Saturday, TechCrunch reported.
Hon Hai declined to say whether it would pay the unspecified ransom, TechCrunch said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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