TAIPEI -- Many major contract manufacturers for Apple have been suffering since the beginning of 2018, hit by a sharp decline in profits and fierce competition with peers to grab more orders amid lackluster hardware sales.
Five key Taiwanese contract manufactures that help make Apple products -- Hon Hai Precision Industry, Pegatron, Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics and Inventec -- together suffered a 35% drop in combined operating profit from a year ago in the first three months of this year, or some 18 billion New Taiwan dollars ($602 million). Each of the five -- which help make iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Apple Watches and AirPods -- saw a double-digit percentage year-on-year contraction. Four out of the five even recorded an operating profit margin below 1.5% in the period.
