TAIPEI, Feb 5 Reuters Taiwan39;s Foxconn, the world39;s largest contract electronics maker and Apple39;s biggest iPhone assembler, on Monday reiterated that it expected an onyear drop in first quarter revenue coming off a high base.

The first quarter is traditionally quieter than the previous one, the season when Taiwan39;s tech companies race to supply smartphones, tablets and other electronics to major vendors such as Apple for Western markets39; yearend holiday period.

Foxconn said in a statement that overall operations in this year39;s first quarter were gradually entering the traditional offpeak season, and seasonal performance is expected to be similar to that of the past three years.

It noted that in the first quarter of 2023, as factories resumed normal operations following the COVID19 pandemic, increasing shipments led to a higher comparison base.

The outlook for the first quarter of this year is expected to decrease yearonyear, Foxconn said, reiterating previous guidance.

The company does not give numerical forecasts.

Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said revenue last month reached T522.1 billion 16.65 billion, which it said was the secondhighest ever for the same period, the highest being the previous January.

That was up 13.5 monthonmonth, but down 20.9 yearonyear.

Compared to the yearago period, it said in January revenue for cloud and networking products increased significantly due to new customer product launches, but…