Shenzhen Transsion Holdings (02636.HK) has announced a global offering of 86.6483 million H shares, subject to the exercise of the over-allotment option. The Hong Kong public offering initially comprises 8.6649 million H shares, representing roughly 10.0% of the total, while the international offering initially comprises 77.9834 million H shares, representing about 90.0%. The subscription period runs from October 7 to October 12, 2026, with pricing expected on October 13. The offer price is set at HK$35.30 to HK$38.80 per share, with a board lot of 100 shares. CITIC Securities is the sole sponsor, and the H shares are expected to begin trading on the Stock Exchange on October 15, 2026.

The company has entered into cornerstone investment agreements, under which cornerstone investors have agreed, subject to certain conditions, to subscribe for or procure their designated entities to subscribe for offer shares at the offer price, for a total amount of approximately HK$1.2455 billion. Assuming an offer price of HK$37.05, the midpoint of the range, the total number of offer shares subscribed by cornerstone investors will be 33.6164 million. The cornerstone investors include GIC, E Fund, Jinxing Global (wholly owned by BYD (H.K.) Co., Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of BYD (002594.SZ/01211.HK)), Millennium, Brilliant Capital, Singularity Assets, BOC Wealth Management, Longsys (301308.SZ/9976.HK), Digimoc (wholly owned by MediaTek), Hongxin Yu Hong Kong, and Keyu Shengda.

If the listing proceeds smoothly, Shenzhen Transsion will achieve a dual A+H listing. Known as the "King of African Phones," the company experienced an inflection point in 2025 with declines in both revenue and profit, and its Hong Kong listing narrative centers on a transformation from a single mobile hardware business toward an ecosystem spanning smart terminals, mobile internet, and the Internet of Things.

Shenzhen Transsion's origins date back to 2006. Founder Zhu Zhaojiang previously handled overseas markets at Bird Mobile, and seeing the enormous potential of the African market, he founded Transsion in 2006. In 2007, Transsion launched its first TECNO-brand phone, entering the African market starting from Nigeria. Transsion's success in Africa stems from localized innovation. Addressing the pain point of insufficient network coverage by African operators, Transsion introduced dual-SIM and even quad-SIM phones. To tackle poor photo results for people with darker skin tones, it developed deep-skin-tone imaging algorithms. To address the frequent need for African users to switch carriers, it designed multiple SIM slots. These seemingly minor product definitions precisely hit the real needs of African users.

The company's three major brands, TECNO, itel, and Infinix, cover different consumer tiers, and it has launched digital accessories brand oraimo, after-sales service brand Carlcare, and home appliance brand Syinix, while independently developing smart terminal operating systems such as HiOS, itelOS, and XOS. In terms of market position, in the first half of 2026, Transsion held an 11.3% share of the global phone market, ranking third among global phone brands. Its smartphone share of the global smartphone market was 7.1%, ranking sixth. In the African market, the company ranks first in smartphone market share and maintained its lead with a 47% share in the first quarter of 2026. In the South Asian market, it ranks first in smartphone market share in both Pakistan and Bangladesh. In the Middle East market, its phone sales volume ranked first, with a market share of 22.8%.

According to financial data disclosed in the prospectus, Shenzhen Transsion has experienced a curve of revenue rising and then falling, with profits contracting sharply over the past three years. From 2023 to 2025, the company's revenue was RMB 62.295 billion, RMB 68.715 billion, and RMB 65.591 billion, respectively, with a year-on-year decline of 4.54% in 2025. Net profit was RMB 5.587 billion, RMB 5.597 billion, and RMB 2.605 billion, respectively, with a sharp year-on-year drop of 53.46% in 2025. Gross margin fell from 23.2% in 2023 to 20.9% in 2024, and further declined to 18.7% in 2025, a new low for the past three years.

The sharp deterioration in 2025 results was mainly due to the double squeeze of rising upstream component prices and intensifying downstream market competition. The gross margin of phone products fell from 24.18% in 2023 to 18.43% in 2025. Transsion said directly in its annual report that the decline in net profit was mainly affected by market competition and supply chain costs, especially the sharp rise in prices of components such as memory, which directly pushed up product costs. For Transsion, which has long focused on extreme value for money and deep penetration into lower-tier markets, passing on upstream supply chain cost pressure to end consumers is extremely difficult.

In terms of shipment data, the company shipped about 169 million phones in 2025, down about 16% from about 201 million in 2024. In contrast to the shipment decline, the average selling price of phones rose from about RMB 313.70 in 2024 to about RMB 345.80 in 2025, an increase of about 10.24%. The ASP increase partly offset the impact of lower shipments on revenue, making the full-year revenue decline of 4.54% smaller than the 16% shipment decline.

Entering 2026, performance showed clear recovery. In the first half, the company achieved revenue of RMB 35.431 billion, up 21.85% year-on-year, and net profit of RMB 1.773 billion, up 46.22% year-on-year, while non-GAAP net profit rose 64.98% year-on-year. The company said it adjusted product prices based on cost changes and market competition strategy, and smartphone average selling prices rose, while on the cost side, historical inventory affected the timing and cost increases lagged slightly, allowing gross margin to improve.

Beyond mobile phone hardware, Transsion is accelerating the construction of a second growth curve centered on mobile internet services and IoT products. Mobile internet services are the business segment with the highest profit quality. In 2025, revenue from this business reached RMB 942 million, contributing only 1.44% of total revenue, but with a gross margin as high as 80%, far above the phone hardware business. At present, the company relies on its self-developed Transsion OS system to expand mobile internet services. In 2025, Transsion OS average monthly active users exceeded 290 million, while Palm Store had 180 million average monthly active users and the AHA Games platform had 130 million. The company also launched features such as AI auto-answer, AI voiceprint noise reduction, AI call summaries, and AI photo problem-solving, and TECNO AI and Infinix AI have been widely used in scenarios such as image enhancement.

IoT products and other businesses have also grown rapidly. Full-year revenue in 2025 reached RMB 6.202 billion, up 32.41% year-on-year, rising to 9.5% of operating revenue. The company has launched smart watches, TWS wireless earphones, home appliances, and other products, and in 2024 TWS earphone sales revenue ranked first in the African market. In energy storage, the company offers two brands, itel Energy and DYQUE Energy, targeting mass households and high-end household and commercial users, respectively. The company said digital accessories, home appliances, and energy storage businesses will continue to adhere to a multi-brand development strategy, relying on AI technology to build platform capabilities featuring interconnection, cross-device collaboration, and software-hardware integration, and to construct a multi-device interconnected smart ecosystem.

Regarding the use of proceeds from this IPO, about 40% will be used for AI-related technology research and development to accelerate product iteration, about 30% for marketing and brand building, about 20% for strengthening mobile internet services and IoT products and others, and about 10% as working capital and general corporate purposes. AI-related research and development is listed as the top priority, reflecting the company's strategic intent to invest in on-device AI technology.

From being assigned overseas by Bird Mobile to founding Transsion, and from king of feature phones in Africa to a top-three global phone shipper, Zhu Zhaojiang has spent nearly two decades proving the competitiveness of Chinese brands in emerging markets. Revenue growth of 21.85% and net profit growth of 46.22% in the first half of 2026 show that Transsion is emerging from its 2025 profit trough. This Hong Kong IPO is a key step for Shenzhen Transsion from the A-share market toward a dual A+H capital platform. The 80% gross margin of mobile internet services, 32% growth in IoT product revenue, and Transsion OS monthly active users exceeding 290 million outline the company's progress in building ecosystem capabilities beyond phone hardware. However, from "King of African Phones" to "technology ecosystem company in global emerging markets," there remain multiple tests in the form of memory cycle volatility, patent litigation compliance, and scaling of ecosystem businesses. Whether Transsion can defend its African base while growing mobile internet and IoT businesses into a true second growth curve is worth continued attention.