Transsion, the smartphone maker whose co-founders include Bangladeshi-origin entrepreneur Arif Chowdhury, according to China Daily and Caixin, has raised approximately US$390Mn through its Hong Kong initial public offering. The Shenzhen-based company, which owns the TECNO, Infinix, and itel brands, listed its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 15 October.

The Listing

Transsion sold approximately 86.6 million shares at about US$4.50 each, the lower end of its marketed range of US$4.50 to US$4.94. Cornerstone investors, including Singapore's GIC, E Fund, Millennium, and Longsys, agreed to buy about US$159Mn worth of shares, according to the company's prospectus.

According to the prospectus, Transsion plans to allocate 40% of net proceeds to artificial intelligence research and development, 30% to marketing and brand-building, 20% to mobile internet services and connected-device products, and 10% to working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Hong Kong offering adds a second listing venue for Transsion, whose shares have traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market since 2019. The company sells phones in more than 100 countries and held 53.1% of Africa's mobile phone market by revenue in 2025, according to Frost & Sullivan data cited in its prospectus.

The Bangladesh Connection

Chowdhury serves as an Executive Director on Transsion's board, responsible for overseas public relations, according to the prospectus. He holds an indirect stake in the company through Suhai Information, which owns about 7.36% of Transsion Investment, the company's largest shareholder.

Xinhua identified Chowdhury, then Transsion's Vice President, as being from Bangladesh in a 2017 interview. He told Xinhua that a decade earlier the company's sales were "less than one million, mainly in India and Bangladesh," before it turned its attention to Africa. "Together with our technicians, I have been to Africa over 100 times to get to know the specific needs of local people," Chowdhury told China Daily in 2018.

He studied computer science and technology at Tongji University and holds a master's degree in business administration from Tsinghua University, according to the prospectus.

Bangladesh remains part of Transsion's operations. In May 2023, the company opened a US$22Mn factory in the Meghna Industrial Economic Zone in Narayanganj through its subsidiary ISMARTU. The facility can produce 1 million phones a month across the TECNO, itel, and Infinix brands. Transsion led Bangladesh's smartphone market for eight consecutive quarters as of mid-2024, according to IDC.

Pricing and Market Context

Bloomberg reported that the offering was a test of investor appetite for Hong Kong listings outside the artificial intelligence supply chain. Demand from AI-related companies has driven Hong Kong share sales to a record quarter, while some listings in other sectors have struggled, Bloomberg reported. Fast-fashion company Shein's shares have fallen about 30% since its September debut.

Transsion is also facing rising memory-chip costs, according to Bloomberg. Its 2025 profit fell 53.5% to US$372Mn, according to the prospectus. Revenue rose 21.9% to US$5.2Bn in the first half of 2026, which the company attributes to a shift from entry-level models toward mid-to-high-end products.

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