[TAIPEI] Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn reported on Friday (Mar 14) a lower-than-expected net profit for 2024 as consumer electronic gadgets underperformed, although demand for its artificial intelligence servers remained robust.
The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer has been moving beyond assembling devices such as Apple’s iPhones into areas ranging from electric vehicles to AI servers.
The company said full-year net profit rose seven per cent to NT$152.7 billion (S$6.18 billion).
That compares with an average forecast of NT$159.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.
Full-year revenue rose 11 per cent to NT$6.9 trillion, beating the market forecast of NT$6.8 trillion.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, has been riding a wave of global demand for generative AI in recent years.
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The company reported a “strong performance” in its AI server business, with revenue up 150 per cent, according to documents released ahead of an earnings call with analysts.
This year would be the “Year of AI”, the company said, with shipments increasing in every quarter.
The earnings announcement comes as US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs against major trading partners including China, Canada and Mexico, igniting trade wars and causing markets to fall.
While Foxconn has plants around the world, the bulk of its operations is based in China, which has been hit by 20 per cent levies on products shipped to the United States.
Foxconn is building a mega-AI server plant in Mexico, which a local official told Bloomberg recently would be completed in a year despite Trump’s tariff threats.
The US$900 million assembly plant near Guadalajara will become the world’s largest to be powered by Nvidia’s GB200 AI chips, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro said.
Foxconn has also been in the spotlight over potential cooperation with Japanese automaker Nissan after its merger talks with rival Honda fell through in February.
Chairman Young Liu said previously that Foxconn was open to buying French auto giant Renault’s stake in Nissan and was looking into a cooperation with Nissan, not a merger.
Foxconn has been looking to expand into the Japanese EV market, and Liu said last month the company would announce “good news” in EVs within one or two months. AFP
