Reporter |
With Luxshare Precision officially hitting the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the three titans of the Apple supply chain—Lens Technology, Lingyi iTech, and Luxshare Precision—have all locked in their “A+H” listings within a single year.
Here’s a jaw-dropping stat: In the first half of this year alone, 24 A-share companies listed in Hong Kong, raising a whopping 121.7 billion HKD. That’s already more than the total for the whole of 2025 (which saw 19 listings), setting a new all-time record. For context, only 7 A-share companies made the trip to Hong Kong during the same period in 2025.
It’s a full-on reunion of the “Big Three” Apple suppliers in Hong Kong, and the city is becoming their new stage for telling compelling “non-Apple stories.” In a previous chat, Lingyi iTech’s Chairman, Zeng Fangqin, laid out three clear reasons for the H-share listing. First, their business is already global, so they need a platform that can seamlessly connect US dollars, Hong Kong dollars, and RMB. Second, Hong Kong is a smoother bridge for international long-term capital, industrial investors, and Chinese manufacturers, and it offers a more internationalized setup for governance and risk management. Third, it’s about getting global capital to truly understand the value of the Chinese supply chain.
Cen Bin, an IPO consultant, told NUPIAO that this rush of A-share giants to Hong Kong isn’t just about having “another place to raise money.” It’s a systematic capital strategy born from two big pressures: pushing their internationalization to the next level and adapting to the shifting funding landscape back on the mainland.
Cen Bin points out that from a company’s perspective, Hong Kong first acts as a “launchpad for going global.” For manufacturing leaders whose operations already cross borders and whose supply chains are being rebuilt worldwide, the Hong Kong exchange’s international investor base—think long-term European and American funds, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, and Asian regional capital—is a natural amplifier for their global influence. Listing in Hong Kong isn’t just about more global visibility; it’s about getting strategic “capital backing” for building factories overseas, doing cross-border M&A, and localizing operations. Looking at the market, compared to the geopolitical headaches of US-listed Chinese stocks, the limited capacity in Singapore, and London’s weak understanding of Chinese manufacturing, Hong Kong has a clear edge in terms of geopolitical stability and predictable regulations.
The best way to see where these manufacturing giants are heading strategically is to look at how they plan to spend the money they’re raising in Hong Kong.
Take Luxshare Precision. They raised over 24 billion HKD, and how they’re allocating it sends a powerful signal: they’re upgrading from just “shipping products and building factories abroad” to “exporting capital and building a full ecosystem overseas.” Specifically, 35% is for expanding global production capacity and upgrading overseas bases to take on more auto and computing hardware work. Another 30% is going straight into R&D, focusing on high-end stuff like high-speed optical interconnects, precision auto manufacturing, and liquid cooling.
This means Luxshare isn’t content being just a single-link supplier anymore. They’re using capital as a lever to build their own industrial ecosystem. Their play in the data center business is a perfect example, covering everything from copper and optical interconnects to liquid cooling and power management. Goldman Sachs is pretty bullish on Luxshare, citing strong growth in data centers and a steady expansion in auto electronics, and they’re projecting a 22% compound annual growth rate for revenue from 2025 to 2028.
Interestingly, Apple’s share of Luxshare’s revenue has dropped from a high of 75% down to 56.7% in 2025. Meanwhile, other growth engines are firing up. Back in 2021, the company’s chairman, Wang Laichun, laid out a “three five-year plans” strategy, aiming to expand from consumer electronics into automotive, communications, industrial, and medical sectors.
The automotive electronics business is a major focus now. In 2025, Luxshare successfully closed and integrated its acquisition of Germany’s Leoni. And last year, its automotive electronics revenue hit 39.255 billion yuan, a mind-blowing 185.34% year-on-year increase—making it the company’s fastest-growing segment.
Lens Technology’s fundraising in Hong Kong is much smaller, but its strategy is just as clear: it’s trying to shake off the “glass cover maker” label. Out of the 4.694 billion HKD it raised, 48% is for diversifying and expanding its product and service portfolio, and 28% is for expanding overseas, mainly to set up production lines for smart device components and smart car/cockpit products in Vietnam and Thailand.
Apple’s share of Lens’s revenue has already fallen from 71% in 2022 to 49.5% in 2024. Lens is filling that gap with new ventures. For example, they teamed up with Zhiyuan Robotics to set up a company called Hunan Zhiqi Weilai Technology, jumping into humanoid robot joint modules and assembly. They’ve also formed a deep partnership with Rokid to become the assembly partner for their full line of AI glasses. And in smart cars, they’re already supplying over 30 automakers, including Tesla, BYD, and BMW.
From phone glass to robot sensors, and from cover processing to AR optical components, Lens is trying to prove that their expertise in ultra-thin glass and micro-nano bonding technology can be applied to much higher-value fields.
Lingyi iTech’s transformation path is even more aggressive. Of the 8.26 billion HKD they raised, nearly half is for equipment investment to boost capacity, upgrade core manufacturing processes, and enhance R&D capabilities. About 30.0% is earmarked for supply chain M&A and strategic investments, and around 10.5% is for expanding production bases both at home and abroad. The company is clearly targeting AI server liquid cooling, key components for humanoid robots, and they’ve even entered the NEV chassis and interior space through acquisitions. Just two weeks after its Hong Kong listing, Lingyi announced plans to invest up to 4 billion yuan in the restructuring of Futong Jiashan, getting into the fiber optic communications materials business.
In September 2025, Lingyi iTech announced it had become a core supplier to AMD, thanks to its thermal management tech. Through the acquisition of Liminda, they’ve entered the AI data center liquid cooling track and are now supplying computing power giants like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. This makes them one of the very few A-share companies that are simultaneously in the supply chains of all four major AI chip and platform players: Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and Google.
Zeng Fangqin has said that the clearest growth track for the next three years is AIDC (AI Data Centers). Lingyi is entering this space through power and cooling solutions. By early this year, they were already supplying PSUs (server power supplies) to a major North American client and had received server-related orders. Some high-power power supply projects for other North American clients are also coming online.
Beyond that, the company is moving into robotics, new energy vehicles, and North American telecom business. Zeng revealed that they’re already cooperating to varying degrees with over 30 robotics companies worldwide. Not long ago, they received applications for over 40 components for a North American telecom tech client’s project and have started shipping. Over the past year, they’ve also completed several M&A deals in the automotive sector, including two Tier 1 suppliers covering areas like car shafts, chassis, and interiors.
For Hong Kong, this is all happening at a critical moment as AI and cloud computing technologies evolve rapidly, prompting the city to accelerate its digital infrastructure buildout. Liu Zhiyuan, Deputy Director-General of Invest Hong Kong, told NUPIAO that in 2025, Hong Kong ranked third globally in fiber connectivity. With the fourth-fastest median fixed broadband speed worldwide, Hong Kong is already home to over 100 data centers.
Liu noted that mainland cloud computing giants are now wading into the deep waters of going global. In today’s complex geopolitical climate, companies trying to go directly overseas face a maze of data compliance reviews and trust barriers from foreign markets concerning data privacy. Under the “one country, two systems” framework, Hong Kong has its own independent common law system and a Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance that’s fully aligned with international standards. This helps mainland companies ease the compliance pressures from geopolitical friction and quickly build trust with overseas corporate clients regarding their data handling. At the same time, Hong Kong is also a compliant gateway for international capital entering the mainland market. Facing China’s strict cybersecurity regulations, global cloud service providers are choosing to set up nodes in Hong Kong and partnering with licensed telecom operators like China Unicom to serve the mainland market legally and compliantly via low-latency dedicated lines.
The story the Apple supply chain trio is telling in Hong Kong is really about the need to “de-Apple” under the pressure of geopolitics and supply chain diversification. But there’s another type of player on the Hong Kong stage—companies whose globalization journey started long before their Hong Kong IPO.
CATL is the most typical example. When it listed in Hong Kong in May 2025, it raised 35.7 billion HKD (US$4.6 billion), making it one of the world’s largest listings at the time.
Unlike Lens, Lingyi, and Luxshare, which followed a “domestic first, then global” path, CATL’s Hong Kong listing was almost synchronized with its European factory plans. Out of the roughly 35.3 billion HKD in net proceeds, 90% was explicitly earmarked for its Hungarian plant. As the EU’s new battery regulations ramp up alongside local production capacity, CATL doesn’t just need cash; it needs an international capital platform that European customers, suppliers, and regulators can all see and trust.
Next up, CATL will push sodium-ion battery applications in the European market. On July 16, the company announced it had signed a memorandum with European energy integrator Alfen N.V. (AEX:ALFEN). The plan is to deploy 5 gigawatt-hours of its Tianheng sodium-ion energy storage systems in the Netherlands and other Western European countries starting in 2027. This deal marks the first commercial application of CATL’s sodium-ion storage systems in Europe.
Anker Innovation represents another globalization archetype. A staggering 96.6% of its revenue comes from overseas, with Amazon channels accounting for over half. Its IPO prospectus clearly allocates the 4.5 billion HKD it raised into four areas: 20% each for product R&D, global DTC channel building, upgrading the supply chain, and talent acquisition; 15% for overseas localized brand marketing; and the remaining 5% as working capital. This allocation reveals Anker’s dual anxiety: it needs to fund new growth areas like energy storage, robotics, and AI hardware, while also relieving cash flow pressure from its heavy reliance on Amazon and its OEM model.
But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Anker Innovation’s stock broke its IPO price on its first day of trading, at one point dropping over 9% to around 90 HKD. Even Luxshare Precision, hailed as the “largest Hong Kong IPO of the year,” got a cool reception. Its shares also fell below the IPO price on day one, dipping over 7% during the session before closing down 1.55%. Lingyi iTech also broke its IPO price on its debut, closing 4.62% lower.
Yuan Shuai, Deputy Director of the Investment Department at the China City Development Research Institute, told NUPIAO that the “Apple supply chain” companies’ IPO day struggles are the result of several factors colliding. First, the overall market environment was tough. Their listings happened when Hong Kong market liquidity was tight. The Fed was at the tail end of its rate hike cycle, global capital was still flowing toward dollar assets, and overall trading volumes in Hong Kong were low. Risk appetite was weak, so appetite for new shares from large fundraisers was naturally low. A few hundred billion HKD of concentrated fundraising just sucked liquidity out of the market. Second, the consumer electronics sector as a whole was in a correction phase before the listings, leading to lowered growth expectations for Apple supply chain companies and a drop in international investors’ willingness to allocate to the sector. Third, there was the sheer concentration of new supply. With so many mega-corporations going public within a 12-month window, investors had many more choices, and their money naturally flowed to the most certain bets.
“Even fundamentally solid leaders like these can get hit by short-term market sentiment,” Yuan Shuai explained. “Add in some A-share investors using Stock Connect for cross-market arbitrage, which amplifies first-day price swings, and you get an IPO price break. It’s a normal result of market sentiment and fundamentals interacting. It doesn’t mean there’s a problem with the company’s core business. It’s more a reflection of short-term market supply, demand, and changing expectations.”
