Hon Hai Precision Industry’s quarterly earnings missed estimates as weak Chinese iPhone sales weighed and it invested more on artificial intelligence (AI) server production.
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The Taiwanese company, a major assembler of Nvidia servers, reported a 13 per cent fall in net income to NT$46.3 billion (US$1.4 billion). That compared with analysts’ estimates for a 2.3 per cent gain to NT$54.4 billion.
Hon Hai’s server manufacturing arm has expanded alongside the boom in demand for the Nvidia chips that drive AI development. However, it still derives most of its revenue from iPhones, and Apple reported a surprise decline in sales of its flagship device during the holiday quarter.
Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, in January revealed a deceleration in December-quarter sales.
While Big Tech firms from Microsoft to Amazon.com have pledged to keep spending on data centres, Chinese start-up DeepSeek’s rise has spurred doubts about whether all that expenditure is justified.
Hon Hai, which ships electronics to the rest of the world from giant production bases in China, is also grappling with uncertainty surrounding US tariffs in 2025.