Hon Hai Hits Record Revenue of NT$3.95 T. in 2013

Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co. Ltd., often reported as the world's largest EMS (electronics manufacturing services) provider based in Taiwan, recently announced consolidated revenue of NT$3.95 trillion (US$131.67 billion) in 2013, a record high in company history and a 1.25% increase from the previous year, including fourth-quarter revenue of NT$1.33 trillion (US$44.3 billion), also a record quarterly high.

The firm's 2013 operational results meet market expectations to also lead all listed firms in Taiwan.

Hon Hai says in 2014 it will continue focusing on the global mobile device market, and more aggressively develop deployments in wearable devices, smart TVs and  connected products, as well as expand overseas production scale and investment, to further upgrade group competitiveness.

In December 2013, Hon Hai's monthly consolidated revenue increased by 7.6% month-on-month (MoM) and 18.87% year-on-year (YoY); while the company's fourth-quarter revenue climbed by 44.64% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).

Institutional investors attributed Hon Hai's high revenue in December to increased shipments of Apple products and game consoles, two major hot-selling product categories in the Christmas and Chinese New Year sales peaks. In addition, Hon Hai's PC deliveries also increased in the period due to new-model launches.

Terry Gou, Hon Hai's chairman, said in early 2013 that his company's operation would simmer in April or May thanks to shipments of Apple's new products. However, Apple delayed its product announcements, so Hon Hai's shipments saw significant increase in late third quarter, and its fourth-quarter revenue soared by more than 40% QoQ, which successfully kept the company's "growth every year" uninterrupted.

Major CounterpartsIn 2013, the ranking of top-five EMS providers in Taiwan changed as Pegatron Corp. replaced Quanta Inc. for the first time to become the No. 2 EMS firm on the island with annual revenue of NT$950.5 billion (US$31.68 billion), a 7.87% increase. Compal Electronics Inc. and Wistron Corp. ranked the No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, last year.

Pegatron registered revenue of NT$88.39 billion (US$2.95 billion) in December, down 2.26% MoM but up 1.22% YoY; and NT$268.8 billion (US$8.96 billion) in Q4, 2013, a 4.8% QoQ increase. The company shipped 3.6 million notebook PCs in the fourth quarter, up 8% QoQ; and some 14 million notebook PCs in 2013, down from 16 million units in the previous year.

The No. 2 EMS provider's major revenue growth in 2013 came from non-notebook PC products. In the past four years, Pegatron's annual revenue rapidly increased from more than NT$530 billion (US$17.67 billion) to last year's new high, due mainly to Apple's orders.

Quanta had consolidated revenue of NT$94.6 billion (US$3.15 billion) in December 2013, down 3.9% MoM but up 8.1% YoY. The firm's fourth-quarter revenue reached NT$271.5 billion (US$9.05 billion), up 23.1% QoQ for better-than-expected performance.

Caption: Hon Hai's chairman Terry Guo.