On the evening of September 22, 2025, traditional meat processing company Jinzi Ham Co.,Ltd. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Fujian Jinzi Semiconductor Co., Ltd. plans to acquire no more than 20% equity in optical communication chip company Zhongsheng Microelectronics (Hangzhou) Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongsheng Micro") through capital increase, using up to 300 million yuan of proprietary or self-raised funds.
**Technical Positioning and Domestic Substitution: Zhongsheng Micro's "Hard Technology" Foundation**
Established in 2019 by core team members returning from overseas optical communication chip design companies, Zhongsheng Micro focuses on R&D and design of core electrical chips for 400G/800G/1.6T and higher-speed optical modules. Its product portfolio covers key components including TIA (Transimpedance Amplifier) and Driver chips, widely applied in AI computing centers, 5G/5.5G base stations, cloud computing data centers, and other high-speed interconnection scenarios. According to the announcement, the company has achieved mass production testing for electrical chips required by 400G/800G high-speed optical modules, completed R&D design for 1.6T and higher-rate optical module electrical chips, and entered tape-out verification stage for single-wave 200G TIA/Driver chips, with its technology roadmap targeting next-generation optical communication core devices.
**Financial Calculations Behind the 300 Million Investment: Collision Between High Valuation and Loss Reality**
The transaction adopts a two-round capital increase model, with the first round of 100 million yuan based on a pre-investment valuation of 1-1.3 billion yuan. Calculated at 1 billion yuan valuation with December 31, 2024 as the base date, the appreciation rate reaches 9,710%, far exceeding industry averages. Zhongsheng Micro recorded only 511,100 yuan in operating revenue from January to July 2025, with a net loss of 20.374 million yuan, while last year's full-year loss reached 38.826 million yuan. The financial data highlights typical characteristics of "technology-driven" enterprises - the mismatch between high R&D investment and commercialization cycles.
**Jinzi Ham Co.,Ltd.'s Transformation Dilemma: Core Business Decline and Cross-Industry Dependency**
Behind this investment lies the continued pressure on Jinzi Ham Co.,Ltd.'s traditional business. The 2025 interim report shows the company's first-half revenue of 170 million yuan, down 14.73% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of 22.92 million yuan, down 25.11% year-over-year; and operating cash flow of negative 18.82 million yuan, the first negative turn since 2021. The core ham products business faces challenges from consumption upgrades, while the company's past cross-industry attempts have repeatedly stumbled: the 2016 medical industry investment caused significant capital losses, the 2023 capital increase in cloud computing company Zhejiang Yindun Cloud Technology ultimately resulted in gains through equity transfer, and this optical communication chip investment is viewed as a "final gamble."
**Risk Warning: Dual Test of Technology Integration and Market Cycles**
Despite market enthusiasm for the "ham + chip" cross-industry combination, potential risks cannot be ignored. First, Zhongsheng Micro's unprofitable financial status may lead to long-term equity investment impairment; second, Jinzi Ham Co.,Ltd.'s management lacks semiconductor industry experience, raising questions about technology integration capabilities; finally, the optical communication chip industry is significantly affected by AI computing demand fluctuations, and delayed 1.6T chip mass production progress could result in missing market windows.
This alliance between the "ham giant" and the "optical communication unicorn" represents both a microcosm of traditional enterprises' digital transformation and a frenzied footnote to the capital market's domestic substitution theme. In the collision between technological iteration and commercial reality, whether Zhongsheng Micro can become Jinzi Ham Co.,Ltd.'s "second growth curve" remains to be tested by time.
Note: This article incorporates AI generation, and the views expressed do not constitute investment advice and are for reference only. Markets carry risks, and investment requires caution.
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