By Yifan Wang

Foxconn Technology Group's first-quarter profit surged compared with an unusually low level a year earlier, when the Apple supplier shut some factories in China and slowed production amid the peak of the pandemic.

Net profit was 28.16 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$1.01 billion), compared with just NT$2.08 billion in the same period last year.

First-quarter revenue jumped 45% to NT$1.347 trillion.

Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is best known for assembling Apple iPhones, among other products, mostly in China. It relies on Apple for about half of its revenue, according to analyst estimates.

The company's sharp earnings rebound was in line with a faster-than-expected recovery in the global smartphone industry this year, driven by booming handset demand as the pandemic pushed people to spend more time online on their phones and computers.

World-wide smartphone shipments in the first quarter rose 25.5% compared with the same period last year. It was 11% higher than the pre-pandemic level in the first quarter of 2019, data from market research firm IDC show.

Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-14-21 0218ET