Hon Hai to raise prices for Apple, others

Hon Hai, the world's largest electronic parts maker, will raise prices from October for some clients, including Apple, according to a Citibank analyst, a Taiwan newspaper reported on Wednesday.                                           

Citibank analyst Chang Kaiwei said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co would also raise prices for Nokia, Microsoft and Sony Ericsson, helping to push up its fourth quarter profit, according to the Commercial Times.                                           
 

Hon Hai reported stronger September sales last week, which Citi said was mainly driven by rising shipments of Apple's iPhone.
 

Many top tech firms typically do their own design work, but outsource manufacturing to contract manufacturers in Taiwan such as Hon Hai, freeing them from having to manage labour-intensive production lines.                                           

Citi forecast Hon Hai's sales would grow close to 30 percent in 2011 from 2010 even though Hon Hai has said the group will halve its long-term sales growth target to 15% annually.             
 

Neither Hon Hai or the Citibank analyst were immediately available for comment.                                           

At 0310 GMT, Hon Hai shares were up 1.33%, outperforming the main TAIEX index's 0.22% rise.                                           
 

Earlier this year, Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, said it will seek higher prices from clients to help offset wage increases at a plant in southern China that has been hit by a series of suicides. 

Hon Hai and the Hong Kong-based Foxconn unit have struggled this year with the fallout from a series of suicides that focused international attention on labour practices in the region.         
 

The issues prompted the company to raise wages and were a trigger for a series of labour disputes over working conditions in a region dubbed the world's workshop. Hon Hai employs more than 900,000 people in China.