Sometimes timing in markets is everything. Just one week after Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing filed for a Hong Kong IPO, WUS Printed Circuit (Kunshan) Co. Ltd. submitted its own application for a similar secondary listing. Both companies make printed circuit boards, those essential components at the heart of everything from smartphones to AI servers. Both are already listed in Shenzhen. And both are following the same playbook: mainland Chinese companies seeking to tap Hong Kong's more globally minded investor base.
But here's where things get interesting. These two companies might operate in the same industry, but they're playing completely different games.
Two Companies, Two Visions
WUS is betting heavily on the future. Its focus is squarely on PCBs for smart vehicles and AI-based applications, the kind of high-growth, high-margin business that gets investors excited. Dongshan Precision, meanwhile, operates primarily in the far more mature consumer electronics space, producing PCBs for smartphones and PCs. That's a perfectly fine business, but it's not exactly the cutting edge.
The strategic differences run deeper than product mix. WUS has grown organically since its founding in 1992, steadily building capabilities and moving upmarket. Dongshan Precision started life as a sheet metal producer and has grown largely through acquisitions. As a result, WUS' core PCB business is growing significantly faster than Dongshan's.
From Kunshan to Thailand
WUS began operations in Kunshan, a city about an hour from Shanghai that's become famous for its concentration of Taiwan-owned electronics manufacturers. The company started with two facilities there and added a third location in Huangshi in 2014. But its two most recent additions tell the real story of where WUS is headed.
In 2017, WUS set up a joint venture facility in Jintan with Germany's Schweizer Electronic to manufacture PCBs for smart vehicles. The company has gradually bought out most of Schweizer's stake since then, though the German firm may still retain a small position.
The Thailand facility, launched in 2022 and beginning production in 2024, represents WUS' most ambitious move yet. With a registered capital of 6.49 billion baht ($203 million), this plant focuses on the company's most advanced products: PCBs for high-speed network switches, routers, AI servers, and smart vehicles. It's also part of a broader trend among Chinese manufacturers seeking geographic diversification as a hedge against growing protectionist measures from the U.S. and other countries.
Strategic Pivot to High-Growth Markets
WUS says it began exiting the consumer electronics PCB market back in 2007, deliberately shifting toward less competitive areas with stronger growth potential. That decision appears prescient today. The company now claims to be the world's largest maker of PCBs for data centers, commanding 10.3% of the market for the 18 months through June 2025, according to third-party data cited in its listing document. It's also the leader in high-end HDI PCBs used in driving domain controllers for level 2 and above autonomous driving systems, with a 15.2% market share.
These aren't small niche markets either. They're at the center of some of the biggest technology trends of the decade.
The Numbers Tell a Growth Story
WUS' strategic focus on high-growth segments has delivered impressive financial results. Revenue jumped 57% year-on-year in the first half of 2025 to 8.49 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) from 5.42 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier. That extends similarly robust 49% growth for all of 2024. These are the kind of numbers that make Dongshan Precision's more modest growth look pedestrian by comparison.
Within that revenue mix, data communications PCBs are the clear star performer. This segment grew 71% year-on-year to 6.53 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, representing more than three-quarters of total revenue. Smart vehicle PCB revenue grew at a slower but still healthy 23% clip to 1.42 billion yuan, accounting for 16.7% of the total.
The company highlights that sales of its most advanced PCBs featuring 22 or more layers now account for more than half of total revenue, hitting 54% in the first half of this year. That's a significant indicator of the company's premium positioning.
Margin Excellence
Here's where WUS really shines compared to peers. The company's gross margin has climbed steadily over the past three years, rising from 27.9% in 2022 to 32.3% in the first half of 2025. Those are enviable numbers in the electronics manufacturing world.
Consider the competition. Flex Ltd. (FLEX) had a gross margin of just 8.9% for the last 12 months. Dongshan Precision managed only 14.3%. Chinese rival Shennan Circuits came in at 25%, respectable but still well behind WUS. Only Victory Giant, at 31.6%, comes close to matching WUS' margin profile.
These margin differences matter enormously. They reflect WUS' success in moving up the value chain and competing on technology rather than price.
Valuation and Profitability
Interestingly, despite their different growth profiles, most of these PCB manufacturers trade at surprisingly similar valuations. WUS' Shenzhen-listed shares currently trade at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 18, following an 80% surge this year. That's slightly ahead of the 17 multiple for both Dongshan Precision and Victory Giant, and the 16 for Flex. Shennan is the outlier at 28.
WUS' bottom line looks equally attractive. Profit rose 49% year-on-year in the first half of 2025 to 1.68 billion yuan from 1.14 billion yuan a year earlier. The company is also a cash-generating machine, with cash rising to 2.74 billion yuan from 1.54 billion yuan. Clearly, WUS doesn't have an urgent need for the capital it would raise from a Hong Kong IPO. But the funds could support capacity expansion at the Thai facility and potentially finance other international locations as the company continues its geographic diversification strategy.
A Clear Choice Emerges
Given a choice between the two companies, it's difficult to see why investors would prefer Dongshan Precision over the more focused, cutting-edge, and faster-growing WUS. But regardless of which company ultimately performs better, these latest IPO filings will give global investors two important new options among the growing roster of China tech plays available through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The race to become Hong Kong's first major listed PCB maker is heating up. And for investors interested in exposure to AI servers, autonomous vehicles, and data center infrastructure, these filings represent a rare opportunity to invest directly in the companies making the essential components that power those technologies.
