Market value shrinks by over 30 billion! 'The first projector stock' breaks the IPO deadlock in Hong Kong stocks

XGIMI Technology, once the "first projector stock" that was all the rage, is finally showing signs of recovery in its performance.

According to the previously disclosed interim report, XGIMI Technology achieved revenue and net profit of RMB 1.626 billion and RMB 88.66 million respectively in the first half of the year, with growth rates of 1.63% and 2062.35%.

In terms of performance growth, both revenue and net profit growth of XGIMI Technology in the first half of the year have turned positive, especially net profit, which has exploded.

However, the market has not bought into XGIMI Technology's performance surge.

Relevant statistics show that XGIMI Technology's performance this year is only 15%, significantly underperforming the STAR Market Index. If calculated from the disclosure of the interim report, its decline has exceeded 10%.

In fact, the capital market's lack of enthusiasm for XGIMI Technology's financial report is not without reason. The "water content" in this report is quite obvious, mainly achieved through a low base. The financial report shows that XGIMI Technology's net profit in the same period last year was only RMB 4.1 million. Over a longer period, the net profit of RMB 88.66 million in the first half of the year is also significantly different from 2022 and 2023.

Kan Jian Finance believes that although XGIMI Technology has become the TOP1 in the projector market, ranking first in domestic shipments for five consecutive years by 2024, the entire projector market is in a state of contraction, with negative growth in the first half of 2025. Without market growth, it is quite difficult for XGIMI Technology to achieve significant performance growth.

On the other hand, although industry dividends have faded, competition in the projector market remains fierce, with a clear trend of price band shifting downward. In 2024, projectors priced below RMB 1,000 accounted for 54.0% of sales, which is very unfavorable for XGIMI Technology, which is positioned in the high-end market.

Of course, to break the deadlock, XGIMI Technology has not waited passively but has chosen to break through in multiple ways. In the capital market, XGIMI Technology has proposed a plan for an IPO in Hong Kong, hoping to find new growth through overseas expansion.

From a market perspective, if it can successfully IPO in Hong Kong, it will greatly help the company's brand image and valuation, and the actual controller of the company will also become the biggest beneficiary. According to equity penetration, Zhong Bo, the actual controller of XGIMI Technology, directly or indirectly holds 18.79% of the company's shares. Based on the latest closing price, the market value of this holding is about RMB 1.5 billion.

From Being Highly Sought After to Falling from Grace

XGIMI Technology's entrepreneurial history can be traced back to 2012.

At that time, Zhong Bo, the 32-year-old founder of XGIMI Technology, was the technical director of MStar Semiconductor's Southwest region. After graduation, he worked as an engineer at Hisense TV Research Institute and later joined MStar Semiconductor.

By chance, Zhong Bo saw the opportunity behind smart displays and decided to resign and start a business, creating a large-screen display product called "Smart Micro Projector" and founded XGIMI Technology in November 2013.

At that time, most projector manufacturers targeted the office market, and projectors generally used high-pressure mercury lamps, which had short lifespans and obvious defects in color, noise, and size.

XGIMI Technology introduced LED solid-state light sources and achieved functions such as automatic projection image correction through self-developed algorithms, solving the pain points of traditional projectors. In addition, XGIMI Technology chose a completely different route from the traditional one, innovatively integrating projectors, audio, and smart TVs into one, creating a new product form of "smart projection." In 2014, the mass-produced Z3 projector was officially launched.

As a disruptive product in the projector market, XGIMI Technology's Z3 projector was highly sought after after its launch. In 2014, during its first participation in "Double Eleven," XGIMI Technology achieved sales of over RMB 20 million, ranking first in both sales volume and sales revenue in the industry.

In 2016, with the launch of new products, XGIMI Technology's annual sales reached RMB 1 billion, ranking first in the home smart micro projector market. From 2017 to 2019, the sales of XGIMI Technology's smart projection products increased from 341,600 units to 689,900 units, with an average annual compound growth rate of over 40%.

In 2018, XGIMI Technology reached a breakthrough moment. According to an IDC report, XGIMI Technology ranked first in the Chinese projector market that year with shipments of 575,000 units, marking the first time a domestic brand surpassed international giants Epson and Sony, ending the 15-year dominance of foreign brands in the Chinese market.

Since then, XGIMI Technology has continued to advance rapidly, retaining its position as the champion of the Chinese projector market in 2020 with shipments of 757,000 units and a market share of over 18%. In March 2021, XGIMI Technology successfully listed on the STAR Market with an issue price of RMB 133.73 per share, but its stock price continued to rise after listing, reaching a high of RMB 626.68 per share.

However, after entering 2023, XGIMI Technology began to decline from its peak. This year, XGIMI Technology's revenue fell by 15.77% year-on-year to RMB 3.557 billion, and its net profit attributable to the parent company fell sharply by 75.97% to only RMB 120.5 million. Over a longer period, this is the first time XGIMI Technology has experienced a "double decline" in performance. By 2024, XGIMI Technology's performance continued to decline, with revenue and net profit of RMB 3.405 billion and RMB 120.1 million, respectively.

Without the drive of high performance growth, XGIMI Technology quickly fell from grace in the capital market.

Reflected in its stock price, after reaching a high of RMB 626.68 per share in June 2021, its stock price began to decline all the way. As of now, XGIMI Technology's stock price is still down by 80% from its peak, with its market value shrinking by over RMB 30 billion.

Breaking the Deadlock with Hong Kong IPO

As a once highly sought-after darling of capital, XGIMI Technology has now fallen from grace.

In terms of performance, XGIMI Technology is currently deeply mired in growth difficulties, especially in terms of revenue. From 2022 to 2024, XGIMI Technology's revenue growth rates were 4.57%, -15.77%, and -4.27%, respectively.

In the first half of 2025, although XGIMI Technology's net profit rebounded significantly, achieving a net profit of RMB 88.66 million, a year-on-year increase of 2062.35%, its revenue remained stagnant, with a growth rate of only 1.63%. Perhaps it is precisely because of the stagnation in revenue growth that XGIMI Technology's stock price fell instead of rising after the earnings report was released, after all, stock price trends reflect the company's development expectations.

So, why has XGIMI Technology come to this situation?

Kan Jian Finance believes that this is largely related to industry trends. Currently, the entire projector market is facing problems such as slowing demand and intensifying competition.

After a significant decline in performance in 2023, XGIMI Technology mentioned in its financial report that the overall demand in the projector market was under pressure, sales of its main long-focus projection products declined, and the company adjusted the prices of some long-focus projection products, leading to a decline in gross margin. Specifically, in 2023, the sales of long-focus projection products, which accounted for more than 80% of XGIMI's revenue, fell by 13.64%, and revenue fell by 21.54%.

In fact, after so many years of development, the dividends in the projector industry have faded.

According to media statistics, China's projector market shipments fell by 6.2% year-on-year in 2023, and sales fell by 25.6%. In the first quarter of 2025, sales in China's smart projector market were 1.432 million units, down 0.8% year-on-year, and sales were RMB 2.37 billion, up 0.3% year-on-year.

According to Huatai Securities, the domestic projector market is fiercely competitive, with price bands showing a K-shaped differentiation: in 2024, the share of the trial price band below RMB 500 and the price band of RMB 500-1,000 increased significantly compared to 2022; at the same time, the share of products above RMB 5,000 also increased. In the past, XGIMI Technology was mainly positioned in the high-end market, but in the face of the general trend of peers "lowering prices," XGIMI Technology had to participate in this price war. Previously, XGIMI Technology launched entry-level products such as the Play 6 and Play 6e priced at around RMB 2,000, and the new H6 and RS series products have seen price reductions to varying degrees.

From the product gross margin, we can clearly see that this round of price war has had a huge impact on XGIMI Technology: the gross margin of projector products was 34.37% in 2022, and by 2024, the gross margin was only 26.59%.

Facing the sluggish demand in the projector market, XGIMI Technology has actually launched active self-rescue, especially in overseas expansion.

In terms of revenue share, XGIMI Technology's overseas revenue share has increased significantly in recent years, from 6% in 2020 to 32% in 2024. In 2024, XGIMI Technology's overseas market revenue reached RMB 1.086 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18.94%, with an overseas gross margin of 45.44%, far higher than the domestic gross margin of 23.88%. To accelerate overseas expansion, XGIMI Technology recently announced plans to issue H shares and list in Hong Kong, aiming to advance its internationalization strategy and overseas business layout and enhance its international brand awareness.

However, competition in the international market is also very fierce at present.

According to media reports, at CES 2025 earlier this year, a large number of Chinese brands showcased their projector products, including Vidda, XGIMI, JMGO, Dangbei, Fengmi, and TCL. Among them, JMGO launched a new 4K projector; Dangbei also launched a 4K projector on the spot; and TCL released a portable projector. For XGIMI Technology, although overseas expansion is a good direction, and it has achieved good results in recent years, as more and more domestic brands go overseas, XGIMI Technology's "overseas expansion" is unlikely to be smooth sailing.