"We did pretty well last year, although we had a rather
large write off in the first quarter," Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way said
on Sunday, referring to a writedown related to its 34 per cent stake in
Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp.
"As for this year's outlook, I think it might be
slightly better than last year," Liu told reporters on the sidelines of
the company's annual employee party in Taipei.
Foxconn in November said it had a "relatively
conservative and neutral" outlook for 2024.
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers will
"of course" be good, but global economic uncertainty given
geopolitical problems will affect consumer product demand, he added.
"One (market segment) will be good, but very many
others - uh-oh."
Apple on Thursday forecast a drop in iPhone sales and
targeted overall revenue $6 billion below Wall Street expectations as its China
business took a hit.
The results confirmed some analysts' concerns that the
company's signature product is losing ground in the key Asian market where
consumers are buying foldable phones and phones from Huawei, powered by a
China-made chip.
Liu said production capacity for chips for servers is
limited, even with strong demand.
"When it comes up to keeping up with demand, perhaps
there need to be new factories," he added.
Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd,
will report fourth quarter earnings next month when it will also update its
outlook for this year. It releases January sales data on Monday.
Foxconn's shares have slid 2.4 per cent so far this year,
compared with a 0.7 per cent gain for the broader market.