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.

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

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

Revenue in the three-month period increased 11% year-on-year to NT$2.06 trillion.

AI-related spending is soaring worldwide, and is expected to reach approximately US$1.5 trillion by 2025, according to US research firm Gartner, and over US$2 trillion in 2026 – nearly two percent of global GDP.

Soaring 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 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.