Foxconn, the new owners of Sharp and shortly Belkin and Linksys and who is the world’s top contract electronics maker and a major Apple supplier, has posted a surprisingly low quarterly net profit. It was the Taiwanese company’s second quarterly downturn in a row.

Analysts say the tepid results underline an uncertain outlook for sales in a plateauing global smartphone market. The results are especially concerning ahead of the traditionally busy second half of the year, when many new products are launched.

Foxconn reported a net profit of T$17.49 billion (A$782 million) compared with T$17.9 billion a year ago.

Analysts are looking towards the next quarter in which Apple is expected to project buoyant revenue.