Fourier Semiconductor actively reduces prices, and before the IPO, Xu Xiaolin cashes out 75 million yuan

Written by: Cheng Mengyao丨Produced by: Rui Finance

Fourier (03625.HK), which submitted its prospectus in confidence, has kicked off its Hong Kong stock offering on March 23. The offering period runs until noon on March 26. It is expected that trading on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited will begin at 9:00 a.m. on March 31.

For this IPO, Fourier plans to offer 12 million H shares globally. Of these, 600,000 shares will be for the Hong Kong public offering, representing approximately 5%; 11.4 million shares will be for the international offering, representing 95%. In addition, there is an over-allotment option of 15%.

The indicative offer price range is HK$40 to HK$50 per share. Using the midpoint price of HK$45, the company is expected to raise a total of HK$540 million, corresponding to net proceeds of approximately HK$480 million. Each board lot is 100 shares, with an application fee of approximately HK$5,050.43.

In terms of the intended use of proceeds, among which 46.8% will be used to establish a new R&D center in the next five years; approximately 17.8% will be used to purchase automated test equipment and build internal automated test verification lines, as well as to recruit supply chain management engineers; 17.3% will be used to seek strategic acquisitions and collaborations; and 8.1% will be used for product marketing and sales.

01

Nearly 90% of revenue comes from low-power audio chips

Breaking through price competition, annual revenue hits RMB 355 million

Fourier is a Chinese supplier of power amplifier audio chips and haptic feedback chips. It operates a fabless business model. Its core business focuses on the R&D, design, and sales of low-power audio chips, mid-to-high power audio chips, and haptic feedback chips. Its products are widely used in emerging fields such as smart phones, tablets, smart wearables, smart screens, and smart cars.

From 2022 to 2024, and from January to October 2015 (referred to as the reporting period), Fourier achieved operating revenue of RMB 130 million, RMB 150 million, RMB 355 million, and RMB 281 million, respectively, with continued growth. Adjusted net losses were RMB 58.078 million, RMB 86.287 million, RMB 49.001 million, and RMB 33.168 million, continuously narrowing. Gross margin was 7.3%, -0.1%, 13.1%, and 20%, respectively.

In 2024, Fourier’s revenue increased 136.34% year over year, and its net loss narrowed 39.6% year over year. Gross margin increased by 13.2 percentage points year over year.

By product line, low-power audio chips are Fourier’s core source of revenue, contributing more than 90% of operating revenue during the period. In terms of downstream application markets, smart phones and tablets account for more than 85% of sales revenue.

According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, in 2024 Fourier delivered more than 400 million power amplifier audio chips in China and more than 450 million globally. Power amplifier audio chips have been adopted by nine of the top ten global smartphone manufacturers. By total shipment volume, Fourier ranked third globally among power amplifier audio chip suppliers and second in China.

Rapidly growing revenue is the result of trading price for volume. In 2023, Fourier’s low-power audio chip unit sales increased 83.99% year over year to 214 million units, while pricing fell 38.89% year over year. Product gross margin dropped from 17% to 2.7%. In 2024, its high-power audio chip unit sales surged 259.43% year over year to 11.739 million units. Prices were lowered 13.96%, and product gross margin fell from 38.5% to 18.1%.

Fourier admitted that the decline in low-power audio chip gross margin in 2023 was mainly attributable to its strategic adoption of more competitive pricing methods to prioritize expanding market share.

It is worth noting that in 2024, the average selling price of its low-power audio chips rebounded slightly, and gross margin also improved. However, looking further, among the two low-power audio chip products included in the company, both continued to experience price cuts throughout the reporting period. Moreover, compared with the portable power amplifier audio chip with a higher average unit price, unit sales were far inferior to those of the other product, the adaptive power control audio chip. This also became the main reason why Fourier’s low-power audio chip sales surged, while average selling price fluctuated downward. In 2024, compared with 2022, Fourier’s low-power audio chip unit sales increased by 287.63%, while the average selling price fell by 33.33%.

From January to October 2025, the product’s average selling price declined 5.71% year over year, while unit sales grew 3.79%, nearly stagnant. However, due to effective cost control and a shift in product structure toward power amplifier audio chip products with higher gross margin, Fourier’s overall product gross margin increased 6.6 percentage points year over year.

02

Continuously stepping up R&D investment

Double concentration in customer and supply chains

A power amplifier audio chip is an integrated circuit module based on mixed-signal design. Through technologies such as power control algorithms and audio effects algorithms, it enables efficient processing of audio signals and optimized output. As mentioned above, Fourier uses a fabless business model. Under this model, Fourier mainly handles design and development, while wafer manufacturing, chip packaging, and all mass production testing activities are outsourced to third-party business partners.

On the R&D side, during the period Fourier’s R&D costs kept rising: RMB 48.708 million, RMB 59.271 million, RMB 68.060 million, and RMB 55.690 million, accounting for 57.7%, 60.2%, 62.7%, and 53.0% of total operating expenses in the same period, respectively. As of March 13, 2026, its R&D team consisted of 91 members, representing 61.1% of the total number of employees as of the same date. Its core members all come from globally leading semiconductor companies, such as Texas Instruments and NXP Semiconductors.

At present, Fourier holds 32 registered patents in China, 2 in the United States, and 1 in Europe, including 32 invention patents and three utility model patents. It has also submitted 21 pending patent applications for approval in China and one pending patent application for approval in the United States. However, Fourier is currently involved in a patent dispute. Public information shows that the case will be heard on April 27 at the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court.

During the reporting period, Fourier’s purchases from its top five suppliers accounted for 89.1%, 91.9%, 93.9%, and 93.5% of its total purchases in the same period, respectively. Among them, purchases from the largest supplier accounted for 31.5%, 62.0%, 52.7%, and 33.7%. Fourier has established supply chains in China, South Korea, and Japan, but the highly concentrated purchasing model still needs to be wary of supply chain risks.

Meanwhile, Fourier faces customer concentration risk. In each period, revenue from its top five customers accounted for 93.0%, 78.6%, 83.0%, and 88.2% of total revenue, respectively. If a leading customer is lost or end-market demand declines, it could affect Fourier’s performance.

According to public reports, Fourier’s customers cover leading companies in consumer electronics, smart home, and automotive electronics, including Samsung, Xiaomi, Honor, Skyworth, Hisense, BYD, Changan, and Chery. In recent years, the rapid development of these emerging industries has driven sustained growth in the global power amplifier audio chip industry’s market size. To respond to market demand in real time, Fourier’s inventory scale has increased.

As of the end of October 2025, its inventory stood at RMB 130 million, facing impairment risk. In the same period, cash and cash equivalents on hand were RMB 73.463 million, short-term debts were RMB 81.791 million, leaving a small gap.

In addition, during the reporting period, Fourier’s net cash flow from operating activities remained negative for consecutive periods, with cumulative outflows of RMB 334 million.

03

Shunwei Capital and Huqin Technology are both shareholders

Before the IPO, Xu Xiaolin realized RMB 75.04625 million

Fourier was founded in May 2016 by Xu Xiaolin and Liu Baoliang as co-founders. Both had previously worked at NXP Semiconductors (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Xu Xiaolin served for 8 years, while Liu Baoliang was a chief product engineer before leaving. The background information shows that the time they joined NXP Shanghai differs by 5 years and 5 months, and the time between their departures differs by 1 month.

Since its establishment, Fourier has consistently maintained a rapid pace of commercialization. In 2017, it achieved commercialization sales of China’s first batch of ASIC DSP integrated portable power amplifier audio chips. In 2021, it achieved commercialization sales of China’s first mid-to-high power audio chip. In 2023, it launched China’s first automotive-grade power amplifier audio chip certified through AEC-Q100, and at the same time, haptic feedback chips realized commercialization sales.

In the capital markets, from May 2017 to August 2022, Fourier completed nine rounds of financing, with total financing amount of RMB 518.5 million. Its valuation rose from RMB 100 million after the pre-Series A investment to RMB 2.275 billion after the Series D financing in 2022.

Luxurious investors include well-known venture capital and industrial capital institutions such as Morningside Fund, Deep Capital, Dachen Venture, Hechuang Capital, Shunwei Capital, Junlian Capital, Hillhouse Ventures, Redpoint China, Huqin Technology, AAC Technologies Holdings, Wingtech Technology, and Longqi Technology.

During this period, Xu Xiaolin conducted multiple equity transfers, with total cash realized of RMB 75.04625 million.

As of the time of filing the application, Xu Xiaolin and Liu Baoliang together control 35.28% of the voting rights of the shareholders’ meeting of the Company, making them controlling shareholders.

Xu Xiaolin is the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Executive Director, and President, controlling 32.76% of the voting rights. Liu Baoliang is the co-founder, Executive Director, Vice President, Head of Algorithm Applications, and a member of the core R&D team. He directly holds 2.52% of the shares. The two are acting in concert.

From 2022 to 2024, Xu Xiaolin received remuneration (excluding share-based payments) of RMB 0.933 million, RMB 0.837 million, and RMB 1.044 million, respectively. Liu Baoliang received RMB 0.915 million, RMB 0.811 million, and RMB 0.963 million, respectively.

However, in the first 10 months of 2025, both individuals had their pay reduced. Xu Xiaolin received RMB 0.685 million, a year-on-year decrease of RMB 0.19 million. Liu Baoliang received RMB 0.646 million, a year-on-year decrease of RMB 0.159 million.

Appendix: List of intermediary institutions related to Fourier’s listing and issuance

Joint sponsors: Guotai Junan Securities (Funding) Co., Ltd.｜Orient Financial (Hong Kong) Limited

Legal advisers: Baker McKenzie｜Tongshang Law Firm｜Commerce & Finance Law Offices LLP｜Fangda Partners

Auditor and reporting accountant: Ernst & Young Certified Public Accountants