Author: Peng Cheng
Since the beginning of this year, the capitalization process for domestic semiconductor equipment companies has significantly accelerated. In January, Hengyunchang listed on the SSE STAR Market, becoming the first company to list on this board this year; in May, wafer handling equipment provider GoNa Semiconductor filed an application with the HKEX; at the end of June, 18 semiconductor companies were collectively accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), including seven equipment and component firms: Zhongdao Optoelectronics, U-precision Tech, Dongfang Jingyuan Electron, Shenzhou Shares, YiNGUAN Semiconductor, MeetFuture Technology, and Leuven Instruments. LieQi Intelligent received registration approval pending issuance; Zhongkexin and SRI-I completed tutoring acceptance; SGSSEMI, Tongchao Precision Machinery, MicroView, and Sandtek Technologies successively filed for tutoring within the year. Aggregating these various progress stages, nearly 20 equipment companies are set to enter the IPO track in 2026.
This wave of applications coincides with a surge in capital expenditures by domestic wafer fabs. Mature nodes are expanding steadily, advanced processes continue to receive investment, and memory chip manufacturers have become the largest incremental source of capex. As direct recipients of this capital expenditure, equipment vendors saw order volumes expand simultaneously with the opening of capital market windows, triggering this concentrated rush of filings.
01 Major Equipment Giants Are Past Tense; Niche "Hidden Champions" Take the Stage
Comparing the current list of applicants with that from five years ago reveals immediate differences.
Companies such as Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, Kingsemi, ACM Research Shanghai, Piotech, and Hwatsing Technology, which entered the capital markets between 2019 and 2022, primarily focused on high-value equipment categories like etching, thin film deposition, cleaning, lithography track systems, and CMP—segments accounting for the highest share of wafer fab capex with global markets worth tens of billions of dollars. After listing, these leaders followed a clear path of platform expansion: leveraging capital raised from public offerings to conduct continuous acquisitions and horizontally expand product lines, evolving from single-machine manufacturers into multi-process platforms. Beyond etching, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment successively expanded into thin films, metrology/inspection, and CMP businesses. After acquiring Hangzhou Zhonggui, it became a comprehensive equipment platform possessing capabilities in four core front-end processes: etching, thin film deposition, CMP, and metrology/inspection. Piotech extended from PECVD to ALD, SACVD, and bonding equipment; ACM Research Shanghai expanded from wet cleaning to electroplating and advanced packaging wet processing equipment; Hwatsing Technology, rooted in CMP, entered the grinding/thinning and bonding equipment tracks. For top-tier giants, listing served as a capital springboard to break through single-category ceilings and move toward platform-based competition.
In contrast, most companies currently queuing for IPOs are deeply rooted in specific equipment segments, targeting niche tracks with high entry barriers. Zhongdao Optoelectronics focuses on optical metrology and inspection; Dongfang Jingyuan Electron targets electron beam metrology/inspection and computational lithography, entering the low-domestic-substitution rate segment of metrology/inspection. Hengyunchang and Shenzhou Shares produce plasma RF power supplies, key components behind main tools. MeetFuture Technology provides Automated Material Handling Systems (AMHS) for wafer fabs; YiNGUAN Semiconductor specializes in ultra-precision motion platforms. These "equipment for equipment" players did not appear in the previous round's lists. Additionally, there is Laipu Technology focusing on laser thermal processing, Leuven Instruments working on MRAM magnetic tunnel junction process equipment benchmarking Lam Research, and SRI-I spanning both ALD and ion implantation lines. Those waiting for acceptance include Zhongkexin (ion implanter) and SRI-I (ion implanter, ALD), which just completed tutoring acceptance, as well as SGSSEMI (thin film deposition and rapid thermal processing), Tongchao Precision Machinery (core equipment components), MicroView (packaging die bonders), and Sandtek Technologies (test equipment), which successively filed for tutoring within the year.
The shift in team structure essentially reflects a transition in the focus of domestic substitution efforts. Domestic substitution rates for major equipment categories like etching, thin film deposition, and cleaning have already exceeded double digits, and leading enterprises have long completed their listings. The remaining unsolved challenges are highly concentrated in weak links with low localization rates: ion implantation, high-end metrology/inspection, critical lithography components, AMHS, and RF power supplies/components. Once equipment vendors complete the leap from "first-tool verification → small-batch trial → stable repeat purchases" at leading wafer fabs, their IPO materials are promptly submitted to exchanges. In small markets, only the number one player has a valuation anchor; the second cannot tell an IPO story. Early filers lock in niche slots, while those lagging behind may permanently miss the listing window.
02 Main Tool Manufacturers Universally Loss-Making; High Revenue Growth with Profit Pressure Becomes the Norm
A significant difference between this batch of applicants and the previous round is that a considerable proportion of main tool manufacturers are operating at a loss.
The SSE's initial inquiry to U-precision Tech required clarification on whether "not yet being profitable is a common industry phenomenon." U-precision Tech's comparison table of peers filing in the same period outlined the true state of the group: Dongfang Jingyuan Electron lost CNY 478 million in 2025, Leuven Instruments lost CNY 212 million, and YiNGUAN Semiconductor lost CNY 6.25 million. Among other semiconductor device-specific manufacturing companies that filed for IPOs alongside U-precision Tech and have been accepted by the SSE, nearly half reported losses during the reporting period. Furthermore, although MeetFuture Technology, Zhongdao Optoelectronics, Shenzhou Shares, and Weijia Technology achieved profitability in 2025, all these companies were in a loss-making position in 2023. Losses are concentrated in the high-R&D-investment, pre-scale-production phase of main tool manufacturing, while transfer system and component suppliers already show samples of profitability. Notably, Zhongdao Optoelectronics' profits mainly come from flat panel display inspection (accounting for nearly 90% of revenue in 2025), with semiconductor wafer inspection revenue just exceeding 10%. "High-speed revenue growth accompanied by deep net profit losses" has become the prevailing status quo for front-end main tool applicants.
Losses no longer constitute a barrier to IPOs, with the core support being the fifth listing standard of the SSE STAR Market based on "Expected Market Capitalization + Operating Revenue."
Losses are no longer an obstacle to filing; what supports corporate IPOs are listing standards based on market cap plus revenue. Taking U-precision Tech as an example, its prospectus applies the fourth standard: expected market capitalization of no less than CNY 3 billion and operating revenue of no less than CNY 300 million in the most recent year, with no net profit threshold. When the company first applied in 2020, it had net profits and applied under the first standard, which requires profitability.
The regulatory framework can tolerate short-term losses, but the use of raised funds must withstand rigorous review scrutiny. Eight equipment and component companies that have filed intend to raise approximately CNY 16 billion in total. For the vast majority, the proportion allocated to replenishing working capital is only around 10%. Dongfang Jingyuan Electron, which has the deepest losses, plans to allocate CNY 730 million to working capital, accounting for nearly 30% of its total fundraising—its net assets at the end of 2025 stood at only CNY 288 million. Of U-precision Tech's CNY 3.5 billion planned raise, CNY 3.2 billion is directed toward R&D and manufacturing of critical components, high-end main tools, and R&D centers, with only CNY 300 million for working capital. Leuven Instruments' entire CNY 2.5 billion raise is invested in its R&D headquarters in Shanghai Lingang and manufacturing base in Pizhou, with zero allocation for working capital. IPO fundraising by loss-making companies is essentially financing for the ramp-up period from first-tool verification to mass repeat purchases: sustaining R&D, maintaining capacity, and waiting for order volumes to push the revenue curve past the break-even point. Regulators are also questioning the destination of raised funds—for instance, MeetFuture Technology plans to invest CNY 193 million in an overseas business center in Malaysia and intends to raise CNY 100 million for working capital despite holding over CNY 600 million in cash and wealth management products on its balance sheet, attracting concentrated media skepticism regarding the necessity of its fundraising projects.
03 Familiar Faces Return for a Second Attempt; IPO Thresholds Continue to Rise
The queue includes several veteran players who have undergone multiple twists and turns.
U-precision Tech is making its second attempt at an IPO: It was first accepted in June 2020, deferred by the listing committee in July 2021, where key questions focused on the industrialization prospects of lithography machine dual-stage tables and whether its technology R&D heavily relied on Tsinghua University. In September of that year, the company significantly reduced references to lithography machines in its prospectus before successfully passing the hearing. However, passing the hearing did not equal listing; the project stalled for nearly three years, culminating in the voluntary withdrawal of its application in June 2024, until restarting the filing this year. E-Town Semiconductor Technology took another long road to clearance: Accepted in June 2021, passed the hearing in August, and submitted for registration in September, but got stuck in the registration phase for three and a half years. Registration finally took effect in March 2025, and it officially listed on the SSE STAR Market in July, becoming one of the few equipment companies from the previous cycle to endure until the end. CMP equipment maker Jingyi Precision stopped before registration: Accepted in June 2023, it smoothly passed the hearing in February 2024 but never submitted registration materials, directly withdrawing its application in July of the same year, with no further progress since. In the AMHS track, MeetFuture Technology filed for the SSE STAR Market at the end of June; meanwhile, its direct competitor, Fuchuangde, a subsidiary of Han's Laser, terminated its ChiNext IPO tutoring in December 2025. With limited slots in the track, some seize the window while others exit quietly. Test interface manufacturer Taosheng Electronics voluntarily terminated its IPO before responding to the initial inquiry, triggered by a trade secret infringement lawsuit initiated by peer Qiangyi Shares against the entity implementing Taosheng's fundraising projects.
A batch of equipment companies stuck in the registration phase from 2020–2022 collectively withdrew during the IPO tightening cycle in 2024. As the review pace warmed up in 2025, some companies returned for a second attempt with updated order data and more mature industrialization results. This wave of filings represents a reassembly after a regulatory pause, but listing thresholds have risen significantly. Regulatory tolerance for unprofitable companies is built upon three hard prerequisites: actionable orders, verifiable production line progress, and clear, autonomous technology sources.
04 Industrial Capital Enters the Scene; Supply Chain Echelon Warfare Takes Shape
Beyond the continued increased investment by the Big Fund in equipment and component targets, two new types of capital forces are systematically entering shareholder registers.
The first type is central SOE national teams. The controlling shareholder of Zhongkexin is a CETC-system company. Established in 2019 by integrating the ion implantation business of Institute 48, the company was recognized as one of the "Top Ten National Key Projects of Central SOEs in 2023." In Ningbo, SGSSEMI's shareholder list includes SMIC, SMIC Juyuan, and Xinxin Financial Leasing backed by the Big Fund. Specializing in thin film deposition and rapid thermal processing equipment, it launched its IPO tutoring in July.
The second type is downstream industrial capital. In October 2025, U-precision Tech completed a CNY 260 million funding round, with Changcun Industry Fund subscribing for CNY 100 million and Hua Hong Hongxin Phase II subscribing for CNY 50 million, resulting in a post-money valuation of approximately CNY 3.2 billion. Shareholders of plasma power supply manufacturer Shenzhou Shares include Intel, Changcun Industry Fund, Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, and Piotech, with Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment serving as both its largest customer and a shareholder. Memory giants, foundry leaders, and equipment leaders investing real money in upstream equipment vendors is about securing supply chain safety, not merely financial returns. The investment logic of memory makers, foundry leaders, and equipment leaders investing in upstream equipment vendors has long transcended simple financial returns; the core objective is binding supply chain security.
The capitalization of domestic equipment has entered an echelon warfare stage: Leaders handle platformization and global competition, while niche vendors fill in the gaps in segments with low localization rates one by one. Listing is no longer the endpoint for leaders but a financing channel for the entire industry's chain completion and expansion. The true highlight of this filing wave lies not in the list itself, but in the verification progress behind it: Only those whose equipment have moved from first-tool to mass production on production lines deserve to remain on the next list.