Hi-Tech Wealth Co Ltd, a Chinese mobile phone maker, is planning a NASDAQ listing before the third quarter, company officials said yesterday.

 

"The share offering could be as early as the second quarter," said Li Ming, president of Hi-Tech Wealth. Li declined to reveal how much the company plans to raise in the IPO or its underwriters.

 

Established in 1998, Beijing-based Hi-Tech Wealth was China's largest personal digital assistant (PDA) maker, claiming to have sold more than 3.5 million units in past years. In 2005, it made inroads into the handset market with a series of smart phones under the brand of Shang Wu Tong, the same name as its PDAs.

 

It sold more than 300,000 smart phones last year and expects to double its sales in 2007, said Zhang Zhengyu, chairman of Hi-Tech Wealth.

 

Industry insiders estimate the company's total revenue was about 1 billion yuan in 2006 as its smart phones, targeting the upper-middle end, usually carry a price tag of over 3,000 yuan.

 

Most local handset makers are competing for the low end of the domestic market, selling handsets with retail prices ranging from 800 yuan to 1,500 yuan. Foreign brands such as Nokia and Motorola dominate the high-end segment.

 

"Hi-Tech Wealth's profitability should be better than other local mobile phone makers," said Jiang Lifeng, an analyst from CCID Consulting, a Beijing-based researcher of the IT market. "The margin of its products is much higher than low-end ones and its TV direct sale business model has also cut its distribution costs."

 

Hi-Tech Wealth has been one of the fastest-growing local handset brands in the past two years. Its handsets, with functions such as blocking unwanted calls and messages, help it differentiate in the market and garner privacy-sensitive users.

 

Its alliance with NASDAQ-listed Acorn International, China's largest television home shopping company, has also increased its brand awareness rapidly.

 

(China Daily May 11, 2007)