Transsion Slips Below IPO Price in Hong Kong Debut

Shares of Transsion Holdings, the Chinese smartphone maker best known for its dominance in Africa, traded below their offer price on their first day in Hong Kong, China stock news site Bamboo Works reported. The weak start came after a share sale priced at the bottom of its marketed range and met with lukewarm investor demand.

The company, which owns the TECNO, Infinix and itel brands, sold about 86.65 million H shares at HK$35.30 each and began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange main board on Thursday, October 15, under stock code 2636. TechNode put the gross raise at roughly HK$3.06 billion, while Bamboo Works said net proceeds came to HK$2.97 billion (about US$378 million). The listing gives Transsion an A+H dual listing alongside the Shanghai STAR Market shares it has traded since 2019.

Transsion – Soft demand, soft debut

According to BigGo Finance, the stock opened at HK$34.96, just under 1% below the offer price, and the losses deepened during the morning. By the midday break the shares stood at HK$33.80, down around 4.3%, giving the company a market value of about HK$41.8 billion.

Bamboo Works reported that the Hong Kong public tranche was subscribed only 3.46 times and the international portion 1.55 times. Twelve cornerstone investors took up 35.28 million shares, or 40.72% of the offering. BigGo said market participants linked the soft showing to pricing at the low end of the range, the smaller-than-expected fundraising, fierce competition in consumer electronics, and swings in the company’s earnings.

The debut also landed during a rough week for Asian technology shares, as worries about AI spending and financing weighed on chip and hardware stocks across the region.

Profits recovering after a tough 2025

Transsion’s earnings record has been uneven. Figures cited by BigGo Finance show revenue fell 4.5% to 65.59 billion yuan in 2025, while net profit attributable to shareholders dropped 53.5% to 2.61 billion yuan, and gross margin narrowed to 18.7% from 23.2% in 2023. Results have since rebounded: first-half 2026 revenue rose 21.85% to 35.43 billion yuan and attributable net profit climbed 46.22% to 1.77 billion yuan.

The company ranked eighth in the global mobile phone market by revenue last year with a 1.7% share, Bamboo Works said, and sells through more than 2,900 distributors in over 100 countries and regions. Beyond Africa, its key markets include South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

AI at the centre of spending plans

Transsion plans to channel 40% of the proceeds into AI-related research and development, 30% into marketing and brand building, 20% into mobile internet services and Internet of Things products, and the remaining 10% into working capital, according to Bamboo Works. TechNode reported that the company sees the Hong Kong listing as a second funding platform to support its global expansion, as it pushes beyond handsets into accessories, home appliances, energy storage and mobile internet services.

After the shaky start, investors will watch whether the company’s improving profit trend and AI push can win over Hong Kong buyers, and how the H shares perform against the Shanghai-listed stock in the weeks ahead.

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