Foxconn, the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer, has gone beyond assembling low-margin Apple iPhones to making AI servers for Nvidia, electric vehicles and robotics.

The Taiwanese firm has seen server sales skyrocket, reducing its dependency on smartphones.

"AI will undoubtedly remain the group's most important growth driver next year," Foxconn chairman Young Liu said.

The company aims "to become the most comprehensive AI server hardware supplier", he said.

Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, said net profit in the third quarter rose 17 percent year-on-year to NT$57.67 billion ($1.9 billion).

That beat an average forecast of NT$50.95 billion, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

AI-related spending is soaring worldwide and sky-high tech share valuations have fed concerns of an AI market bubble that could eventually burst, like the dot-com boom that imploded at the turn of the millennium.

Bloomberg said ahead of the Foxconn results that subdued consumer sentiment and unfavourable exchange rates may have weighed on smart consumer electronics and computing.

Cloud and networking products were expected to lead revenue gains on the back of strong demand for AI servers, as US tech giants pour billions of dollars into data centres.

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HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY (FOXCONN)

Apple

NVIDIA