Foxconn's Gou Sees Brisk Business at Least Until January

Terry Gou, chairman of iPhone-assembler Foxconn, said his company’s business will remain strong at least until January, according to Bloomberg. “Our business is very good up till at least January,“ Gou said Saturday in an interview outside a polling station in Taipei, before voting in local elections. He didn’t elaborate on the outlook for the rest of 2019.

Bloomberg reported last week that an internal Foxconn memo characterized 2019 to be a “very difficult and competitive“ year. According to the memo, the company will slash 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) in expenses next year from this year’s level, with 6 billion yuan coming from its iPhone unit. It also plans to cut 10 percent of its non-technical staff.

Foxconn’s aim for a deep cut to expenditure was widely seen as a fresh warning sign of Apple’s woes. Some reports even suggested Foxconn could trim its research and development expenses, but Gou reiterated the company isn’t doing that. “No matter how stupid we are, we are certainly not cutting research and development expenses,“ Gou said. He also dismissed speculation the company will eliminate tens of thousands of jobs. “There has been speculation that we are cutting about 100,000 staff. We won’t,“ he said.