As the year draws to a close, the semiconductor sector is witnessing a renewed wave of Hong Kong listing activities, with A+H dual listings emerging as an industry consensus. Leading firms including OmniVision, GigaDevice, and Unisoc have either submitted applications or announced approvals for Hong Kong listings in December.
Riding this industry-capital synergy, Montage Technology Co., Ltd., a global leader in memory interconnect chips, has accelerated its Hong Kong listing process. Key milestones in December include securing overseas listing approval from China's securities regulator on December 9, completing the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's hearing review on December 16, and scheduling an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on December 26 to finalize listing arrangements.
According to its prospectus, Montage Technology is a fabless IC design company specializing in interconnect solutions for cloud computing and AI infrastructure. By revenue, it holds a 36.8% global market share in memory interconnect chips, ranking as the world's top supplier. The company is also among the top two PCIe Retimer suppliers globally and the first to launch CXL MXC chips. As a board member of JEDEC, it actively participates in setting international standards for DDR5 chips.
Montage's core products span the full DDR series memory interface chips and supporting solutions, addressing high-speed data transfer needs in servers. Its PCIe Retimer and CXL MXC chips meet AI-era requirements for computing, storage, and transmission synergy. Future plans include expanding into Ethernet and optical interconnect products.
This listing push coincides with strong AI-driven demand in the storage sector. Gartner forecasts global generative AI spending will reach $644 billion in 2024, up 76.4% year-on-year. Storage products have become "investment-grade," with NAND Flash prices surging approximately 246% since Q1 2024, 70% of which occurred in the past two months, according to Kingston data.
Montage's filing highlights exponential AI-driven data growth and rising transmission speed requirements, fueling interconnect chip market expansion. Frost & Sullivan projects the global memory interconnect chip market will grow from $1.2 billion to $5 billion (27.4% CAGR) and PCIe/CXL interconnect chips from $2.3 billion to $9.5 billion (26.7% CAGR) between 2024-2030.
Benefiting from AI-driven demand, Montage reported Q1-Q3 2024 revenue of 4.058 billion yuan (+57.83% YoY), net profit of 1.632 billion yuan (+66.89% YoY), and gross margin of 61.46% (+3.34pp YoY).
Analysts note Montage operates two business lines: interconnect chips (growth driver) and Jintide server platforms. Its interconnect solutions, including memory interface and supporting chips, serve global leaders like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. The Jintide platform focuses on secure computing for cloud data centers. While both segments show strong growth potential, risks include storage price volatility, inventory devaluation, and trade tensions.
Industry experts highlight Hong Kong's liquidity and international pricing mechanisms as attractive for semiconductor firms seeking global capital access and diversified financing channels to navigate industry cycles.
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