Foxconn's Profits Slide 31% as iPhone Sales Continue to Drop

Following in line with a slump in iPhone sales, Apple manufacturer Foxconn recently reported a 31 percent decline in profits in the second quarter of 2016. For the full quarter, ending in June, Foxconn was said to have amassed a net profit of 17.7 billion New Taiwan dollars, down from NT$25.7 billion a year earlier. Analysts watching the company had expected a revenue of around NT$23.9 billion for the quarter (via The Wall Street Journal).

A doom and gloom sentiment began surrounding Apple, and its overseas manufacturers, soon after the Cupertino-based company reported its first quarterly sales decline since 2003 in April. Despite a strong presence of the iPhone SE in the market, iPhone sales continued to contribute to an overall revenue decline for the company as the year continued.

foxconn_workers_2
The slump in the iPhone market now appears to be fully affecting Apple's manufacturing partners with the news out of Foxconn today, but both companies are looking forward to an uptick in sales in the future. Notably, Foxconn's acquisition of Japanese electronics maker Sharp has been officially approved by Chinese antitrust authorities, "clearing the final hurdle" in the lengthy buyout process. With the acquisition over, it should be easier for Foxconn to move forward with not only manufacturing of parts for the iPhone 7, but potentially even ramping up development of AMOLED displays and glass casings for the 2017 iPhone.

Overall, weak demand for the iPhone 7 -- due to a "lack of innovation" -- was predicted by a group of Apple suppliers in May. Multiple companies, like Japan Display and Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, reported fears of both huge net profit declines and a worrisome decrease in chip orders thanks to an overall declining iPhone market. Still, Apple CEO Tim Cook is optimistic about iPhone sales moving forward, saying that he sees "so many signs that are positive" as the company moves towards the iPhone 7 and iOS 10 in the fall.

Tag: Foxconn
Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

Mathias Denichi Avatar
101 months ago
"so many signs that are positive ('https://www.macrumors.com/2016/07/26/tim-cook-optimistic-iphone-7-sales/')"

Must be interesting to live in a world with Cook tinted glasses.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SandboxGeneral Avatar
101 months ago
I wonder if the slump isn't just about a "lack of innovation" but maybe more, or at least partly, due to market saturation. So many people have iPhone's now and other smartphones that eventually sales would slow down at some point.

This whole "doom and gloom" sentiment seems silly to me at this point. The companies are still making money hand over fist here and they're not even close to going under or anything like that.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
enrilo Avatar
101 months ago
The prices guys, the prices.

This is the begin of the end if Apple can't compete with Nexus cheaper models. I mean, why a new buyer should pay 600+$ instead of half the price for a 5X? And the 5X is not a bad smartphone at all. It's super good indeed!
I don't want to start realizing that there's no reality in the shareholders eyes. In this world Android is becoming more tough to beat, the iPhone cannot stand only on his name and on Steve's heritage. Ok Swift, ok good design, ok Apple, wow amazing! YOLO: but the troubles are emerging now more than ever.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
101 months ago
I hope Apple is not blaming Foxconn or their employees for this decline, the blame falls squarely in the head of Apple's CEO, Tim Cook.
They need new leadership that's interested in innovating again instead of promoting social policies as their top priority.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ginkobiloba Avatar
101 months ago
So they'll sell it as the music lover's iPhone: stereo speakers, 'digital quality' Lightning earphones / wireless earphones and the new Music app.
Bluetooth earpods are very much the opposite of the music lover's wishes. If there is one category they will NOT be able to sell the iPhone 7 to , it's precisely the music lover. They all have invested in expensive quality headphones and they all now need to carry at all times a dangling fragile adapter.

Also, there is no such thing as a "digital quality" earphones. Our ears are analog and all digital information has to be converted into analog before reaching the earphones.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jmausmuc Avatar
101 months ago
After reading all the rumors about the new iPhone I really don't even know how thy are going to advertise it.

No headphone jack is a huge no go for many people I have talked to, myself included.

And the rumors also point to most other things staying virtually the same.
The 6S is already blazing fast so a faster processor is unlikely to convince anyone to go out and upgrade their phone either.

wht is their strategy for the new phone? Only people with yearly free upgrade plans and expiring contracts?

What am I missing?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
iPad And Calculator App Feature 1

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...