Largan Precision Co (大立光), a major camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday reported that revenue last month increased to NT$4.5 billion (US$162.92 million) — the seventh consecutive month of increases — up 3.45 percent month-on-month, but down 8.33 percent year-on-year.

In terms of shipments, lenses for products of 10 megapixels or more made up the biggest portion at 50 to 60 percent, the company said in a statement.

Last quarter, revenue increased 8.97 percent to NT$13.05 billion from NT$11.98 billion in the third quarter. Revenue for the whole of last year declined for a second straight year to NT$46.96 billion, down 16 percent from NT$55.94 billion.

“Last quarter’s revenue is largely in line with company expectations,” a Largan official said by telephone. “Compared with December, January could be a weaker month due to seasonal factors.”

Largan has set up a new subsidiary, Largan Industrial Optics Co (大根光學), to extend into the auto sector, especially electric vehicles, it said, without elaborating.

The company reportedly recruited a former executive from Lite-On Technology Corp’s (光寶科技) camera module unit to head the unit.

Separately, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) reported that revenue last month rose 6.27 percent month-on-month to NT$660.68 billion from NT$621.71 billion in November, beating company expectations.

On an annual basis, revenue last month fell 7.44 percent, from NT$713.78 billion a year earlier, the company added.

It marked the third-highest revenue in December in the company’s history, with all of its major product lines showing growth, Hon Hai said in a statement.

“As the main supply chains improved faster than expected, demand for smart consumer products continued to be robust,” Hon Hai said.

The growth momentum “also generated robust demand for computer products,” it added.

Emerging metaverse applications increased demand for cloud-based data storage and computing, which increased its server revenue to about NT$1 trillion for the whole of last year, Hon Hai said.

Revenue in the fourth quarter of last year surged 30.6 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$1.8 trillion, the second-highest in the company’s history. On an annual basis, revenue fell 8.69 percent.

Revenue for the whole of last year jumped 10.86 percent to NT$5.94 trillion, up from NT$5.36 trillion in 2020, exceeding company expectations and analysts’ forecasts, as smart consumer products showed the strongest growth, Hon Hai said.

●Origin：Taipei Times
●Link：https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2022/01/06/2003770801