Mobile handset design company China TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology Ltd. filed for an initial public offering of American Depositary Shares and could raise up to $150 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company did not include its proposed share price or number of shares to be offered. The company applied for the CNTF listing.
TechFaith is an independent mobile handset design house in China. The company offers design services, including industrial design, mechanical design, software design, hardware design, component selection and sourcing, prototype testing, pilot production and production support. The company offers GSM handsets using technology platforms from Philips, Texas Instruments and Skyworks Solutions and recently expanded into W-CDMA and CDMA through teamings with NEC Corp. and Qualcomm Inc.
The company’s customers include Chinese mobile handset brand owners Bird, Haier, Konka and Lenovo and international handset vendors Alcatel, Kyocera, Mitsubishi, NEC and UTStarcom.
Since the company’s inception in July 2002 it has designed a total of 58 handset models. The company recorded revenues of $46.6 million and a net income of $18.2 million in 2004. In 2003, the company scored net revenues of $9.7 million and net income of $5 million.
The company’s lead underwriter for its offering is Merrill Lynch.
