Annual Sales of 460 Million Chips, Fourier Charges Toward Hong Kong Listing: Concerns Linger Beneath the Rapid Growth

Originally from: Shell Finance

Founded only 10 years ago, domestic chip manufacturer Fourier is accelerating its push toward the Hong Kong stock market.

On March 15, Shanghai Fourier Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Fourier”) went through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s hearing, marking another step forward in its IPO journey as a provider of audio amplifier chips.

With an aggressive market strategy of “selling at low prices to gain volume,” Fourier sold 460 million chips in one year, successfully ranking among the top three globally in market share for audio amplifier chips and becoming a supplier to leading mobile phone brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, and Honor.

But Fourier’s ambitions go far beyond that. After breaking into the mobile phone market, Fourier has shifted its focus to the broader emerging consumer electronics market and is also trying to carve out a position in the automotive market.

However, for Fourier, ongoing losses, high R&D investments, highly concentrated supply chains, and ongoing patent infringement lawsuits remain concerns and challenges on its IPO path.

Image / Screenshot of Fourier’s post-hearing data collection

Using price cuts to increase volume, global top three market share

As a chip provider aiming to quickly expand its market, Fourier’s usual tactic is simple and direct—lower prices.

In 2023, the price of Fourier’s low-power audio chips dropped sharply from 1.08 yuan per unit to 0.66 yuan, with gross profit margin falling from 17% to 2.7%. In 2024, the price of medium-to-high power audio chips decreased from 2.65 yuan per unit in 2023 to 2.28 yuan, with gross margin dropping from 38.5% to 18.1%.

Sacrificing product gross margins to significantly boost sales. In 2023, Fourier sold 214 million units of low-power audio chips, an increase of about 98 million units from the previous year; in 2024, sales of medium-to-high power audio chips rose from 3.266 million units to 11.739 million units.

Fourier openly states in its prospectus that the decline in gross profit margins for some models is mainly due to “strategically adopting more competitive pricing to prioritize expanding market share.”

Overall, Fourier’s strategy is to win sales through price reductions in the early stage, then leverage the scale effect from increased sales to lower production costs and improve gross margins. In 2023, Fourier’s overall gross profit margin fell to -0.1%, rising to 13.1% in 2024, maintaining growth into the first 10 months of 2025, with a gross margin of 20%.

Additionally, product mix optimization has positively impacted gross margins. In 2024, revenue from tactile feedback chips increased by 0.7 percentage points to 1.5%, with a high gross margin of 64.7%. Revenue share from medium-to-high power audio chips increased by 1.7 percentage points to 7.5%. The portable power amplifier audio chips, which have higher gross margins within low-power audio chips, saw an 18.3% increase in revenue share compared to the previous year.

From the perspective of overall revenue, the “price-to-volume” strategy has shown significant results. In 2023, Fourier’s total revenue was only 150 million yuan, which increased to 350 million yuan in 2024.

In 2024, Fourier shipped 460 million units of global audio amplifier chips, accounting for about 9.2% of the global market, ranking third among global audio amplifier chip companies; in China, shipments reached 450 million units, about 18% of the market, ranking second.

Supplying Samsung and Xiaomi, eyeing automotive next

Fourier’s clients include major domestic and international mobile phone manufacturers, with its official website listing mass production customers such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Honor.

Another mobile phone manufacturer—Transsion—is even directly listed among Fourier’s shareholders. Fourier’s prospectus discloses that Zhanxiang Information is one of its experienced independent investors; this company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shenzhen Transsion Holdings, which indirectly sources power amplifier chips from Fourier.

Revenue from mobile chips contributes the most to Fourier’s income. In the first 10 months of 2025, revenue from mobile-related business was 160 million yuan, about 58% of total revenue. However, products used in mobile phones have a gross margin of only 19.5%, below the company’s overall gross margin.

Starting from mobile phones, Fourier’s vision extends to emerging consumer electronics and automotive markets.

In the low-power audio chip market, Fourier has expanded its customer base to include tablets, smartwatches, smart glasses, and action cameras, and has completed supplier onboarding. In the first 10 months of 2025, revenue from tablets accounted for 29.5% of total revenue; smartwatches contributed 2.3%.

Meanwhile, Fourier’s medium-to-high power audio chips are also moving into the automotive market. In 2023, it launched China’s first car-grade AEC-Q100 certified power amplifier audio chip. In 2025, revenue from automotive products first appeared in the company’s financial statements; in the first 10 months, automotive product revenue was 899,000 yuan, only 0.3% of total revenue, but with a high gross margin of 47.4%.

According to Fourier’s official website, in 2025, the company established in-depth cooperation with one of the world’s largest new energy vehicle manufacturers through car-grade intelligent audio chips.

The prospectus also discloses ongoing projects including next-generation low-power audio chips capable of expanding into higher-performance new terminal product categories, tactile feedback chips for automotive smart cabins, car-grade power amplifier audio chips meeting high-voltage requirements for new energy vehicles, and SAR sensor chips, aiming to create greater market opportunities in consumer electronics.

Fabless model still faces concerns

Founded in 2016 by Xu Xiaolin and Liu Baoliang, Fourier has grown to rank among the top three globally in the power amplifier audio chip market with annual revenue exceeding 300 million yuan.

Despite impressive achievements, Fourier has yet to turn around its losses. In 2024, it reported a loss of 56.84 million yuan; in the first 10 months of 2025, the loss was 51.77 million yuan, an increase compared to the same period in 2024.

In its prospectus, Fourier states that as the company is in a rapid growth phase of expanding its power amplifier audio chip business and operations, and continues to invest heavily in R&D, it may continue to generate net losses in the short term.

Regarding R&D investment, in 2024, Fourier’s R&D costs were 68.06 million yuan, accounting for 62.7% of total operating expenses; in the first 10 months of 2025, R&D costs were 55.69 million yuan, representing 53% of total operating expenses.

Fourier discloses that its R&D team consists of 91 members, making up 61.1% of total employees, with core members coming from leading semiconductor companies such as Texas Instruments and NXP Semiconductors.

Both founders previously worked at NXP’s Shanghai office; Xu Xiaolin served for 8 years, and Liu Baoliang was a chief product engineer before leaving.

From the start, Fourier positioned itself as a “Fabless” company, focusing on chip R&D and design, outsourcing wafer fabrication, chip packaging, and mass production testing to third-party factories.

Its prospectus reveals that Fourier has established supply chains in China, South Korea, and Japan. However, the business remains highly dependent on a few key suppliers; in the first 10 months of 2025, procurement from the top five suppliers accounted for 97.8% of total procurement, meaning that the stability of these core suppliers directly affects the company’s ability to produce.

Additionally, Fourier, which specializes in chip R&D and design, is currently entangled in patent disputes. According to Qichacha, Shanghai Aiwei Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. has sued Fourier for patent infringement, with a court hearing scheduled for April 27 at the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court.

From this perspective, breaking through the price war and rushing toward Hong Kong stocks is just the beginning for Fourier. Ongoing losses, patent litigation, and other uncertainties remain industry challenges that this young company must face.

Beijing News Shell Finance Reporter Zhang Xiaohui

Editor Yang Juanjuan

Proofreader Mu Xiangtong