After over twenty years of focusing on the electronic measurement instruments sector, Rigol Technologies Co., Ltd. (688337.SH) has emerged as the largest domestic supplier in this field and seems poised to explore even broader horizons. Recently, Rigol submitted its application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with Citic Securities as the sole sponsor. The company’s history can be traced back to 1998, and it developed China’s first commercial benchtop digital oscilloscope in 2002. Over more than twenty years, Rigol has broken the foreign monopoly through its proprietary core technologies, with products widely used in communications, semiconductors, and new energy sectors. Following its listing on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board in 2022, Rigol has accelerated high-end product iterations and actively expanded into international markets. The current push into the Hong Kong market is closely tied to the company's ambition for deeper global penetration. In its prospectus, Rigol stated that it will focus on a "G-THSA" strategy framework to enhance competitiveness and seize global market opportunities, with a long-term goal of becoming a top global brand. As a pioneer in domestic substitution for electronic measurement instruments, assessing Rigol's fundamental “gold content” may be gleaned from its prospectus.
With rising competitiveness, financial data continues to improve. Driven by the rapid technological advancements in 5G, 6G, optical communications, artificial intelligence, and smart robotics, the global electronic measurement instruments and solutions market is experiencing robust growth. Within this landscape, Rigol’s product portfolio includes digital oscilloscopes, microwave radio frequency instruments, precision DC devices, and modular instruments. Thanks to its strong R&D capabilities, Rigol's competitiveness on a global scale is on a steady rise. This is reflected in the company's income metrics. Data indicates that Rigol achieved revenues of 631 million yuan, 671 million yuan, and 776 million yuan for 2022-2024, increasing year-over-year; in the first half of 2025, the company's revenue was 355 million yuan, showing growth compared to the same period in the previous year at 307 million yuan. It is noteworthy that Rigol's revenue is primarily domestic, driven by continued growth in domestic substitution. By product and solution categories, the majority of Rigol's income derives from digital oscilloscope products. Benefiting from significant breakthroughs in recent years in high-end digital oscilloscopes, the performance of these products has reached internationally advanced levels, and revenues from this product line have shown consistent growth. Particularly last year, sales revenue from digital oscilloscopes utilizing self-developed core technology platforms accounted for a significant 84.93% of total revenue, marking an increase of 8.9 percentage points year-on-year and contributing critically to the company's performance growth. However, it is worth noting that the proportion of digital oscilloscopes has not consistently risen; their revenue shares from 2022 to mid-2025 were 52.7%, 51.5%, 47.1%, and 44.5%, respectively, indicating an increasingly diversified revenue structure for Rigol.
In addition to the digital oscilloscope category, Rigol also generates considerable income from microwave RF instruments and precision DC devices, which contributed 13% and 23% to revenue, respectively, in the first half of 2025. Furthermore, this year, revenues from the modular instrument category began contributing significantly, generating 7.633 million yuan in the first half of the year, representing 2.2% of total revenue. Regarding the solutions business, the revenue for this segment increased from 57.935 million yuan in 2022 to 130 million yuan in 2024, with its revenue share rising from 9.2% to 16.8%. The solutions business recorded revenues of 54.896 million yuan in the first half of this year. In addition, Rigol also has some minor revenues from rental income and sales of raw materials, which have consistently accounted for 2% or less in recent years. In contrast to the robust revenue growth, Rigol's profitability metrics have shown some volatility. Data shows that the company's overall gross profit from 2022 to mid-2025 was 321 million yuan, 358 million yuan, 426 million yuan, and 184 million yuan, corresponding to gross profit margins of 50.9%, 53.4%, 54.9%, and 51.9%. In the first half of this year, Rigol's comprehensive gross profit margin declined by 2.7 percentage points compared to the same period last year, which may be related to increased production costs at overseas bases, changes in product structure, and tariff impacts. During the same period, net profits were 92.488 million yuan, 108 million yuan, 92.303 million yuan, and 162 million yuan, respectively.
Is High-End Focus + Globalization Supporting Long-Term Growth? As a foundational industry, electronic measurement instruments link downstream R&D with high-end manufacturing and can be seen as a critical asset for the nation. According to a Frost & Sullivan report cited in Rigol's prospectus, the global electronic measurement instruments market is expected to reach 57.1 billion yuan by 2024, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 5% from 2025 to 2029. In the segmented markets, digital oscilloscopes are expected to have the highest growth due to strong downstream demand, with a projected compound annual growth rate exceeding 6% in the coming years. However, in terms of industry competition, overseas companies still dominate the global electronic measurement instruments market. Data shows that U.S. companies account for the top three market leaders, with the highest market shares held by U.S. and Japanese firms. Notably, however, the market share of Chinese companies represented by Rigol is steadily increasing. By 2024, Rigol's market share is expected to be around 1.1%, ranking eighth globally.
The electronic measurement instruments industry is characterized by significant market space for high-end products, and more favorable industry barriers and competitive landscapes. For example, in the oscilloscope segment, according to Rigol's investor relations activity records, bandwidths of 1GHz, 13GHz, 33GHz, and 60GHz delineate the market space into several parts. The mainstream market is concentrated between 1GHz and 60GHz, with the high-end market above 13GHz accounting for as much as 70%. Most foreign products, such as those from Keysight Technologies, operate at bandwidths exceeding 60GHz, while domestic brands typically hover at 13GHz or below. Currently, the domestication rate of high-end oscilloscopes and other electronic measurement instruments is less than 10%, indicating ample room for domestic substitution. Over the years, Rigol has persistently focused on R&D for core oscilloscope chipsets, backed by over a decade of continuous investment and iterative development. The core chipsets developed by the company are highly customized ASIC architectures that integrate not only the essential functions of analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) but also incorporate multi-dimensional instrument-level performance optimization modules such as frequency response compensation, temperature drift control, and automatic calibration, achieving a high degree of coupling between chip design and instrument system performance needs. By the end of 2024, the company successfully launched three major chipset platforms: "Phoenix," "Andromeda," and "Centaurus," with oscilloscope products using self-developed chipsets rising to 85% of total shipments, significantly validating its technological closed-loop capabilities and industrial maturity.
It must be acknowledged that domestic electronic measurement instrument brands began relatively late, making it challenging for them to rapidly establish a strong foothold in the high-end market. On a positive note, domestic brands are innovating rapidly, and in terms of oscilloscopes, the iteration velocity for high-end domestic products is evidently faster than that of overseas enterprises. If current R&D momentum is maintained, the gap between the two could continue to narrow. In addition to accelerating entry into high-end markets, as previously mentioned, Rigol is also exploring global development opportunities under the “G-THSA” strategy framework. The "G" at the head refers to globalization, with Rigol planning to establish a customer-centric global sales, marketing, and service network, strengthening the global supply chain while fostering global R&D, creating the next generation of products and solutions, and engaging in global strategic investments and acquisitions to solidify its market position.
From a financial perspective, Rigol is significantly ahead in technology self-sufficiency, having developed its core chips over a decade ago rather than outsourcing them like many brands. As a player striving to catch up, challenging the global leaders in high-end measurement instruments is no small feat, and Rigol has substantial work ahead. However, growth expectations reflecting the ongoing domestic substitution evolution have gradually been visible in the financial data. If Rigol successfully lists on the Hong Kong stock market and completes its “A+H” listing, it may become a potential stock worth long-term attention.
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