Apple's Asia suppliers fall amid fears of weak iPhone sales

LG Innotek Co

13/11/2018 02:27

TAIPEI, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Shares in Asian suppliers and
assemblers for Apple Inc  AAPL.O  fell on Tuesday due to profit
warnings that point to weakness in iPhone sales.
    Taiwan-based assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
(Foxconn)  2317.TW  dropped more than 3 percent and rival
Pegatron Corp  4938.TW  fell more than 5 percent. Both companies
count Apple as one of their major customers. 
    The Cupertino, California-based tech giant's shares fell to
their lowest in more than three months on Monday after three
suppliers cut their forecasts for iPhone sales in the coming
holiday season.   urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1XN4QW 
    Lumentum Holdings Inc  LITE.O , the main supplier of the
Face ID technology in the latest generation of iPhones, cut $70
million off its revenue forecasts. Screen maker Japan Display
Inc  6740.T  cited lower smartphone demand in cutting its
outlook, while British chipmaker IQE Plc  IQE.L  said it expects
a reduction in its performance this year.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1XK2MB urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1XN59M
    Apple warned earlier this month that holiday sales would
miss Wall Street expectations due to weakness in emerging
markets including India and foreign-exchange costs.
    Apple began shipping the iPhone XR on Oct. 26 after two
weeks of pre-orders. The company had released the more expensive
iPhone XS and XS Max more than a month earlier.
    Shares in other Taiwan-based Apple suppliers also fell
sharply on Tuesday. 
    The world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co  2330.TW , fell 2.6 percent and camera
lens-maker Largan Precision Co Ltd  3008.TW  slid 3.6 percent.
The Taiwan Weighted Index  .TWII  was down around 1.6 percent.
    Among other Apple suppliers in the region, Hong Kong-based
acoustic components maker AAC Technologies Holdings Inc
 2018.HK  fell more than 6 percent. 
    South Korean electronic parts suppliers Samsung
Electro-Mechanics Co Ltd  009150.KS , Apple's supplier of
multi-layer ceramic capacitors, dropped more than 5 percent,
while LG Innotek Co Ltd  011070.KS  plunged 9.5 percent.
    Japan's Nikkei daily reported earlier this month that Apple
had told Foxconn and Pegatron to halt plans for additional
production lines dedicated to the iPhone XR, the cheapest of
this year's new launches.

 (Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)
 ((yimou.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +886-909-894-919; Reuters
Messaging: yimou.lee.reuters.com@reuters.net / Twitter: https://twitter.com/YimouLee))