Apple supplier Lingyi iTech is looking beyond smartphones, seeking to raise up to HK$8.3 billion (US$1.1 billion) in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) to fund an ambitious expansion into artificial intelligence hardware and humanoid robotics. The Shenzhen-listed electronic components maker is expected to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday after offering 811.8 million shares at a maximum price of HK$10.18 each, according to a company filing. The subscription period opened last Wednesday, with cornerstone investors including GF Fund, Sunny Optical Capital and smartphone maker Honor. The dual listing marks a strategic push by Lingyi and its founder, Zeng Fangqin, to diversify beyond a maturing smartphone market. The company is positioning itself to benefit from emerging demand for humanoid robots, smart glasses, foldable devices and AI servers. Headquartered in Jiangmen, Guangdong province, Lingyi has set a goal of becoming one of the world’s top three suppliers of embodied-intelligence hardware. In September, the company acquired an 80 per cent stake in a joint venture with robot maker AgiBot. Earlier this month, it opened a robotics factory in Beijing and plans to increase annual production from 10,000 units this year to 500,000 by 2030. Lingyi said it had secured leading North American robotics customers and established partnerships with more than 20 Chinese robotics companies. By the end of November, it had assembled or supplied components for 5,000 humanoid robots. For now, however, robotics remains a small part of the business. Revenue rose 16 per cent year on year to 51.4 billion yuan (US$7.2 billion) in 2025, while net profit climbed 30 per cent to 2.3 billion yuan, driven primarily by its imaging and display components business. Zeng, 61, is often grouped with Wang Laichun and Zhou Qunfei as one of the leading women behind China’s Apple supply chain. She ranked fifth on the 2026 Hurun Global Rich List of self-made women, with an estimated fortune of US$10 billion. Unlike Wang and Zhou, who began their careers on factory floors, Zeng followed a more conventional path. A graduate of Wuhan University, whose alumni include Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, she worked at a state-owned fishery enterprise before undertaking postgraduate management studies at the University of Houston in the 1980s. Zeng founded Triumph Lead Electronics Technology, the predecessor to Lingyi, in 2006, initially supplying components to Nokia before winning Apple as a customer three years later. She has said in Chinese media interviews that the company initially accepted orders at a loss, before turning them profitable by refining its technology during the delivery process. Over time, it also met clients’ demanding standards by raising manufacturing yields from about 30 per cent to 90 per cent. “The client’s demands were relentless and always challenging … We had to bite down until our teeth bled,” said Zeng, who also serves as chairwoman and general manager. Lingyi, which first went public in Shenzhen through a back-door listing in 2018, saw its Shenzhen-traded shares rise about 6.1 per cent on Thursday – the last trading day before Friday’s public holiday – to close at 16.82 yuan, giving the company a market capitalisation of about 123 billion yuan.