Foxconn shares up as Apple products push up profits

Shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry, a major assembler of Apple products, rose after strong iPhone and iPad demand lifted income.

The Taiwan-based company, which uses the trade name Foxconn Technology, saw its stock rise 2% in Taipei.

Hon Hai said its net profit for the first nine months of the year rose 24% to 57.8bn Taiwan New dollars ($1.9bn; £1.2bn) compared to a year earlier.

This is despite rising wages in China where it has most of its factories.

Although the company does not make public how much of its profits are dependent on business from Apple, analysts say it is a significant amount.

Apple said last month that it sold more than 5 million iPhone 5s on the first weekend it was made available.

However, working conditions at its factories making Apple products have come under criticism for questionable working conditions, long hours and low pay.

In August, the company raised wages at its factory in Zhengzhou in north-central China where iPhones are assembled.

Earlier this month it said it was taking steps to boost productivity at its Chinese operations.

Hon Hai is the world's largest contract manufacturer and also makes products for other electronics companies including Hewlett Packard, Nintendo and Sony.

It employs more than one million people globally.