Tailin Technology's Hong Kong IPO: Sustainability of Performance to Be Examined

Recently, domestic electric two-wheeler companies—including Taili Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Taili Technology”)—submitted an application for an IPO to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board.

The prospectus shows that in recent years, Taili Technology has achieved steady growth in both revenue and net profit. However, behind the impressive performance figures, the company’s high leverage, controversies over the rationale for raising funds to expand capacity, and the changing regulatory landscape for the industry amid the rollout of new national standards for electric vehicles collectively form the core questions Taili Technology faces on its IPO “exam” journey.

Performance steadily rising, but liabilities remain high

Public information shows that Taili Technology is a leading brand in China’s two-wheeled battery electric vehicle market. At present, the company offers 50 models of electric bicycles, 38 models of electric motorcycles, and 3 models of electric three-wheelers, covering use cases ranging from daily urban commuting to delivery and freight transport.

In terms of performance, Taili Technology saw relatively fast growth during the reporting period. According to the prospectus, in 2023, 2024, and the first three quarters of 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of 11.88 billion yuan, 13.60 billion yuan, and 14.84 billion yuan, respectively. In the same period, net profit was 287 million yuan, 472 million yuan, and 823 million yuan, respectively, and the year-on-year growth rate of net profit for the first three quarters of 2025 was as high as 122.4%.

From the perspective of revenue structure, electric bicycles and electric motorcycles are Taili Technology’s core sources of revenue. In the first three quarters of 2023, 2024, and 2025, electric bicycles contributed operating revenue of 6.67 billion yuan, 7.062 billion yuan, and 8.353 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 56.1%, 51.9%, and 56.3%, respectively. Electric motorcycles contributed operating revenue of 2.874 billion yuan, 3.184 billion yuan, and 2.912 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 24.2%, 23.4%, and 19.6%, respectively. At the same time, Taili Technology’s battery business has grown quickly in recent years; for the first three quarters of 2025, the battery segment’s revenue share reached 20.4%, forming the company’s second growth curve in addition to finished vehicles.

Regarding gross margin, for 2023, 2024, and the first three quarters of 2025, Taili Technology’s overall gross margin was 11.3%, 13.0%, and 14.6%, respectively, showing a steady upward trend. However, compared with peers, there remains a clear gap. Based on annual reports disclosed by various companies, in 2024, Yadea’s gross margin was 15.2%, and Aima Technology’s was 17.8%, while Ninebot’s gross margin in the same period was as high as 28.2%. In addition, for the first three quarters of 2025, Taili Technology’s battery business gross margin was only 1.0%, placing it in a “low-price volume” state, making a relatively small contribution to corporate profitability.

Notably, Taili Technology’s performance growth is accompanied by persistent pressure from high liabilities. As of the end of 2023, the end of 2024, and September 2025, Taili Technology’s current liabilities were 7.394 billion yuan, 9.395 billion yuan, and 12.615 billion yuan, respectively. Current liabilities, net of current assets, were 2.082 billion yuan, 2.440 billion yuan, and 2.046 billion yuan, respectively. In the prospectus, Taili Technology also acknowledged that it may face liquidity risk; if it is unable to obtain external financing in a timely manner, it would have a material adverse impact on business expansion, financial condition, and operating performance.

Intensifying competition for existing market players, with market share shrinking

In its IPO in Hong Kong, Taili Technology clearly stated the intended use of proceeds in the prospectus, focusing mainly on capacity expansion, channel building, and R&D upgrades. Among these, capacity expansion is a key point of attention for the market.

The prospectus discloses that Taili Technology plans to use IPO proceeds to build, procure, and install equipment for its Vietnam base, Huizhou three-wheel vehicle base (Phase 3), Chongqing base (Phase 2), and Guigang base (Phase 2), to achieve a significant expansion in production capacity. In addition, the proceeds will be used to expand channels: the company plans to open more than 500 new retail stores over the next five years. The remaining funds will be directed toward R&D activities and upgrading the product matrix, as well as brand promotion and marketing activities.

However, the current market for domestic two-wheeled electric vehicles is becoming saturated, and the characteristics of competition among existing players are gradually becoming apparent. In its “In-Depth Report on the Two-Wheeled Electric Vehicle Industry,” Northeast Securities shows that in 2024, domestic two-wheeled electric vehicle ownership reached 420 million units, roughly one vehicle for every three people. Against the backdrop of competition among existing players, the rationality and feasibility of Taili Technology’s capacity expansion plans disclosed in this prospectus have become the core focus of market attention.

In addition to industry-wide demand pressure, Taili Technology’s market share has also declined. Data on domestic sales of electric two-wheelers released by AVC (AVIC/奥维云网) for 2025 shows that total domestic retail sales of electric two-wheelers reached 58.767 million units in 2025, up 16.6% year on year, with the overall industry maintaining growth. However, the market structure among leading brands has diverged noticeably. Specifically, Yadea Holdings ranks first with a 25.5% market share, up 1.0 percentage point from the previous year; Aima Technology ranks second with a 19.4% share, up 0.6 percentage point year on year; Taili Technology ranks third with an 11.7% market share, down 2.4 percentage points year on year, making it the only company among the top three whose market share shrank. By January 2026, Taili Technology was even pushed out of the industry’s top three by Ninebot, with a market share of 12.7%. Against a backdrop of increasingly fierce competition, Taili Technology’s position in the industry faces severe challenges.

While facing pressure in the domestic market, Taili Technology’s overseas expansion remains at an early stage, and growth expectations are highly uncertain. The prospectus shows that for the first three quarters of 2025, the company’s revenue from overseas markets accounted for only 2.7% of total revenue, and its contribution to performance remains relatively limited.

New national standards implemented and enforced, triggering a deep reshuffle in the industry

Taili Technology’s IPO in Hong Kong comes at a critical time when the regulatory environment for the electric two-wheeler industry is changing. The “Safety Technical Specifications for Electric Bicycles” (GB17761-2024) (hereinafter the “new national standard”) has been comprehensively implemented. The new national standard strengthens safety requirements in multiple areas, including flame retardancy of non-metal materials, motor power, plastic ratios, and anti-tampering measures, with the aim of improving the inherent safety of electric bicycles from the source.

Meanwhile, the CCTV 3·15 evening program in 2026, which exposed violations and chaos in the electric bicycle industry, may further accelerate the tightening of industry regulation. The program highlighted three major violations involving brands such as Hello (哈啰) electric rental vehicles. First, offline stores openly decoded and removed speed limits, modifying compliant vehicles into “overspeed vehicles” with a maximum speed of up to 75 km/h, while also falsifying the instrument panel to show 25 km/h to evade regulation. Second, companies used methods such as “applying for plates before manufacturing” and “producing with certificate shells,” leveraging old qualification certificates to obtain licenses in advance, circumventing the new national standard’s regulatory system of “one vehicle, one code; one vehicle, one pool; one vehicle, one charging unit.” Third, a full-chain series of violations—from license processing to vehicle production to deployment—was formed; large numbers of out-of-spec vehicles entered the market under the name of compliance, seriously threatening road traffic safety.

After the 3·15 evening program’s exposure, market regulatory authorities and public security traffic management departments across the country moved quickly, focusing on cracking down on violations such as illegal modifications to remove speed limits, license-plate and certificate fraud, false advertising, and unqualified product quality. The “shortcuts” that previously allowed illegal modifications and parameter inflation to seize market share are likely to face continued crackdowns.

In addition, the reporter noted that Taili Technology’s “long battery life” label, which it markets as a key selling point, has repeatedly come into contact with regulatory red lines due to false advertising and parameter inflation. In 2024, Taili Technology was administratively punished by market regulatory authorities because the electric vehicle advertisements it published contained statements that could not be verified or were untrue, violating relevant provisions of the Advertising Law. As of March 2026, the number of complaints about Taili electric vehicles on the Black Cat Complaints platform has exceeded 1,400, and “battery life not matching,” “battery degradation being fast,” “false advertising,” and “stalling in after-sales service” have become high-frequency complaint issues. Many consumers stated that the advertised battery life of Taili electric vehicles differs greatly from the actual battery life during real use.

Industry insiders believe that, currently, with the comprehensive implementation of the new national standards and the continued tightening of full-chain regulation after the 3·15 evening program, China’s electric two-wheeler industry has already entered a period of deep reshuffling. Extensive low-price competition and violation-based large-scale expansion can no longer meet the requirements of high-quality industry development. Whether it is Taili Technology or other companies in the industry, they need to abandon short-sighted development thinking, uphold the compliance bottom line, deepen technological innovation, and effectively protect consumers’ lawful rights and interests while fulfilling corporate social responsibilities. Only in this way can companies stand firm amid intense industry competition, and only then can China’s electric two-wheeler industry truly move steadily from a “manufacturing giant” to a “manufacturing power.”