iPhone Maker Foxconn Records 48% Revenue Jump

Foxconn, Apple’s biggest iPhone maker, and the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, said its year-on-year revenue jumped 48.2%, Reuters reports(Opens in a new window). 

In a statement reported by Reuters, the company said: “Based on market consensus for first quarter 2023, January revenue came in slightly ahead. The outlook for the first quarter will likely reach market expectation.”

The revenue bounce came despite COVID disruptions in China that saw its biggest facility in the country lockdown last year. In recent weeks, shipments increased and operations returned to normal at the Zhengzhou factory, as revenue in January reached $22 billion, a record high. 

In a statement, the company, which assembles roughly 70% of total iPhones that are in circulation, further announced that its revenue was up 4.93% compared to the previous month of December, with smartphones and computing products showing “strong double-digit growth,” Reuters reported.

According to Refinitv, a market analysis firm, Foxconn is expected to have a first-quarter growth in revenue of 4% year-on-year.

Despite the revenue growth and return to normal production conditions as China has eased COVID-associated lockdowns and restrictions, Foxconn shares have fallen 0.3% so far this year. 

In October last year, workers at the company’s Zhengzhou facility, the biggest iPhone factory in the world, fled a feared COVID outbreak by scaling fences and hillsides. 

Workers at the 200,000-strong facility had been hit with a lockdown that saw them banned from eating communal meals and were forced to eat in their dorms. N95 masks were reportedly required to be worn even in dorms, and workers were tested daily for the virus. 

The associated disruption meant that production of iPhones was feared to have slumped by as much as 30%. The disruption was short-lived though; in December China abandoned its zero-Covid strategy(Opens in a new window) after protests and dropped all restrictions despite having relatively low immunity among its population compared to countries like the US.