《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Apple lists Taiwan iPhone prices

HELPING HON HAI? Analysts said the main assembler of the two new mobile phone models would benefit from strong shipments and could avoid its normal slow period

By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

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Apple Inc yesterday announced prices for its larger iPhones for the Taiwan market after the products were unveiled a day earlier in the US, with online ordering scheduled to begin later this month.

The 4.7 inch iPhone 6 will start from NT$22,500 （US$751） for a 16GB model, NT$25,900 for a 64GB model and NT$29,500 for a 128GB model, according to Apple Taiwan’s official Web site.

The 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus will carry an initial price of NT$25,900 for a 16GB model, NT$29,500 for a 64GB model and NT$32,900 for a 128GB model. Local consumers can preorder both phones on Apple’s online retail store from Sept. 26.

Although the iPhone 6 models’ availability date in Taiwan has yet to be announced, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co （鴻海精密） is expected to be the biggest beneficiary among Apple’s local component suppliers, Fubon Securities Inc （富邦證券） said yesterday.

Fubon analyst Arthur Liao （廖顯毅） said the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus mostly came in line with his expectations in terms of screen sizes as well as their functions, such as near field communications （NFC） and iBeacon. iBeacon is a low-power, low-cost transmitter developed by Apple that can notify nearby iOS 7-powered devices of its proximity.

However, the new iPhones do not use sapphire glass for their display covers and have no wireless charging, which is a little bit disappointing, he said in a note.

Shipments of the two models are expected to reach between 165 million and 168 million units, which would be 25 percent higher than the iPhone 4S, Liao said.

More than a quarter of the shipments would be iPhone 6 Plus as Asian customers prefer larger screens, he said.

As Hon Hai is the sole assembler of the iPhone 6 Plus, Liao said the firm “will be the major beneficiary [of Apple’s new iPhones] and its revenue will not drop sharply in the first quarter of next year as it usually does.”

Apple is expected to ship 12 million iPhone 6 Plus units in the first quarter of next year, he said.

Hon Hai yesterday reported that revenue grew 5.71 percent to NT$275.08 billion last month from July, but contracted 1.91 percent from a year earlier.

In the first eight months, cumulative revenue edged up 0.49 percent to NT$2.3 trillion from the same period last year, Hon Hai reported.

Barclays Capital Securities Taiwan Ltd said in a separate note that it retains a positive view on Hon Hai, which takes 70 percent of orders for the iPhone 6.

Barclays recommended that investors should buy shares of another system assembler, Pegatron Corp （和碩）, which is expected to benefit from strong shipment growth. The company accounts for 30 percent of orders for the 4.7 inch iPhone 6, the brokerage said.

Other smartphone component suppliers in Taiwan include metal casing maker Catcher Technology Co （可成）, camera lens maker Largan Precision Co （大立光）, as well as flexible printed circuit board makers Compeq Manufacturing Co （華通） and Zhen Ding Technology Holding Ltd （臻鼎）, and speaker and earphone supplier Merry Electronics Co （美律）.

Investors are advised to “find entry points one month after Apple’s product launch amid real sell-through progresses,” Liao said.

Yuanta Securities Co （元大證券） analyst Jeff Pu （蒲得宇） said he prefers Catcher, citing the company’s market share gains and sizable nonrecurring engineering revenue.

As Apple’s smartwatch product will not hit stores until next year, Pu suggested investors take a wait-and-see attitude toward Apple Watch component suppliers such as Quanta Computer Inc （廣達） and touchpanel maker TPK Holding Co （宸鴻）.（Additional reporting by CNA）

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES