IPO outlook | AI server demand drives high performance growth, Shanghai Electric Co., Ltd. sprints to “A+H” layout of the global high-end PCB market

In the context of the acceleration of the global artificial intelligence industrialization process, printed circuit boards (PCBs), as a key basic component of data centers and computing power equipment, are facing a new round of upgrading needs in terms of technical specifications and production capacity. With the rapid expansion of high-end application scenarios such as AI servers and high-performance computing, the market demand for high-rise, high-density, and high-transmission reliability PCB products has increased significantly, driving the centralized transformation of the industry to advanced manufacturing fields such as advanced HDI (High Density Interconnect).

At this stage of industry evolution, the capital market has become an important way for related enterprises to upgrade their layout technology and expand production capacity. Zhitong Finance App learned that Shanghai Shi Electronics Co., Ltd. (“Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd.”, 002463.SZ) has officially submitted a listing application to the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC and HSBC acting as joint sponsors. If this issuance is successfully completed, Shanghai Electric Co., Ltd. will become another PCB company that has achieved an “A+H” listing layout.

The AI revolution and smart cars drive structural growth in the PCB market

The Zhitong Finance App notes that in recent years, the global PCB market is undergoing structural changes, and the growth momentum is shifting from traditional consumer electronics to high-end fields such as high-performance computing and automotive electronics. In terms of sales revenue, the global PCB industry's market size reached US$75 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 3.6% from 2020 to 2024. The global PCB industry market is expected to reach US$96.8 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% from 2024 to 2029.

Among them, data communication is the fastest growing field. The relevant PCB market is expected to grow from US$21.8 billion in 2024 to US$32.7 billion in 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.4%, significantly exceeding the overall growth rate of the industry. This increase was mainly driven by general-purpose server platform upgrades and surging demand for AI servers. According to the Insight Consulting Report, the data center transmission rate has evolved rapidly from 400G/800G to 1.6T, driven by the explosion of AI demand. This trend places extremely stringent requirements on the efficient management of massive computing power and lossless high-speed data interconnection, making high-frequency, high-speed, and high-flow PCBs more important.

At the same time, the trend of electrification and intelligence in automotive electronics is creating a new blue ocean. The automotive PCB market is expected to grow from US$9.2 billion in 2024 to US$11.5 billion in 2029, with a CAGR of 4.5%. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), in-vehicle infotainment systems, and power control systems for electric vehicles all place massive demands on high-reliability and high-complexity PCB products.

The core strategy of Shanghai Electric Co., Ltd. focuses on the two major golden tracks of “data center+automotive electronics”. According to the prospectus, Shanghai Electric Co., Ltd. is a leading global provider of PCB solutions in the field of data communication and smart cars. Demand for AI-driven data centers is booming, particularly in the fields of high-performance computing and data interconnection applications, and has become the core engine driving the company's performance growth. Furthermore, the rapid development of electrification, intelligence and connectivity of automobiles has also injected impetus into the company's long-term performance growth.

According to Insight Consulting, in terms of revenue for the 18 months ended June 30, 2025, Shanghai Electric Power Corporation ranked first in the world in PCB revenue, accounting for 10.3% of the global market share; the company's 22-layer PCB ranked first in the world, accounting for 25.3% of the global market share; the company's PCB revenue for switches and routers ranked first in the world, accounting for 12.5% of the global market share; the company's L2+ autonomous driving domain controller HDI ranked first in the world, accounting for 15.2% of the market share.

“Data Center+Smart Car” two-wheel drive

Looking at the breakdown, the application fields of the company's products can be divided into several major fields such as data communication, smart cars, industrial control, etc.

Among them, the Data Communications Division is the company's main revenue source and continues to contribute around 70% of revenue. According to financial data, from 2022 to 2024, data communication business revenue was 5.495 billion yuan (RMB, same below), 5.870 billion yuan, and 10.093 billion yuan, respectively, rising from 65.9% to 75.7% of total revenue, becoming the core engine driving the company's performance growth. In particular, in 2024, with the explosion of demand for AI servers and high-performance computing (HPC), AI server and HPC-related PCB revenue reached 2,975 billion yuan, an increase of 133.6% year over year, and the related share increased to 22.4%; revenue from high-speed network switches and routers also maintained steady growth, reaching 3.892 billion yuan, accounting for 29.2%.

As the second growth pole, the smart car sector achieved revenue of 2,408 billion yuan in 2024, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year, accounting for 18.1% of total revenue. Among them, the revenue of automotive intelligence and electrification systems was 549 million yuan, up 70.6% year on year, reflecting the company's continued breakthroughs in high-value-added PCB products such as electronic control units (ECUs) and battery management systems (BMS) for new energy vehicles; revenue from safety systems and other products was 1,859 billion yuan, which despite a slight year-on-year decline, still occupied a stable share of the overall market.

Revenue from industrial control and other business segments showed a downward trend. In 2024, it was only 338 million yuan, a decrease of about 40% compared to 2022, and the share of total revenue fell to 2.5%, mainly affected by weak demand for downstream traditional industrial equipment. Other businesses mainly include self-sale and recycling of corner materials and property sales and leasing. The scale of revenue is small and remains in the range of 300 million to 500 million yuan.

Judging from the data for the first half of 2025, the company continued to maintain a strong growth trend: data communication business revenue reached 6.532 billion yuan, up 67.3% year on year, accounting for a further increase of 76.9%; smart car revenue was 1,422 billion yuan, up 23.7% year on year; while industrial control and other businesses continued the contraction trend, with revenue of only 198 million yuan. It can be seen that the company's business structure is accelerating its transformation to high-end applications centered on AI computing power and intelligent connected vehicles, and future growth momentum is expected to continue to increase.

Against this backdrop, the revenue of Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd. has also continued to grow in recent years. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, the revenue of Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd. was approximately RMB 8.336 billion, RMB 8.938 billion, and RMB 13.342 billion, respectively. In the first half of 2025, this figure further increased from 5.424 billion yuan in the same period last year to 8.494 billion yuan.

At the same time, the company's profitability also continued to grow. The company's gross margin increased from 27.9% in 2022 to 31.7% in 2024, and further increased to 32.3% in the first half of 2025. The company's profit for 2022, 2023 and 2024 was 1,362 billion yuan, 1,490 billion yuan, and 2,566 billion yuan respectively. The company's profit reached 1,678 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, exceeding the profit for the full year of 2022 and 2023.

However, it is important to note that behind the high increase in performance, the company is also facing risks. Like most of its peers, the company's business is highly dependent on overseas markets. According to the prospectus, in 2022, 2023, 2024 and the first half of 2025, the company's revenue from overseas sales was about 6.294 billion yuan, 7.218 billion yuan, 11.104 billion yuan and 6.893 billion yuan respectively, accounting for 75.5%, 80.7%, 83.2% and 81.1% of total revenue, respectively.

This business structure means that the company's operating performance is largely directly affected by multiple external factors such as international trade policies, geopolitical relationships, target market economic conditions, and exchange rate fluctuations. Especially in recent years, the restructuring of the global technology industry chain has accelerated, and some countries have promoted “risk reduction” or localized manufacturing strategies, which may pose a potential challenge to the company's export-oriented business model. Furthermore, if major customer regions (such as North America and Europe) cut capital expenses due to a downturn in the economic cycle or adjustments in the pace of technology investment, it may also have a direct impact on the visibility of the company's orders and capacity utilization. Therefore, how to maintain overseas high-end market share while speeding up localization in emerging fields such as domestic AI computing power infrastructure and smart cars will become a key strategic direction for the company to balance growth and risk.

In summary, with deep technology accumulation in the field of high-end PCBs, world-leading customer resources, and strategic strength focusing on “data center+smart car” two-wheel drive, Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd. has firmly grasped the historic opportunities brought by the wave of artificial intelligence and electric intelligent connectivity. The company's revenue and profit continued to grow at a high level, and the product structure was continuously optimized for high value-added fields, showing strong growth resilience and industry leadership.

However, in the face of an increasingly complex international environment and industrial chain restructuring trends, Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd. is also facing certain risks. The company urgently needs to accelerate the expansion of domestic AI computing power construction, new energy vehicles, and emerging application scenarios such as Xinchuang while consolidating its share in the high-end overseas market to promote balanced development of “internal and external efforts”.

As the H share listing process progresses, the company is expected to use the “A+H” dual capital platform to further strengthen global production capacity layout, technology R&D investment and supply chain resilience, and inject new momentum into long-term sustainable growth.