Xiaomi’s smart wearable device partner Huami raises $110 million in public offering
Huami, a smart wearable device maker for Chinese smartphone unicorn Xiaomi, has officially been listed on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “HMI,” and has raised $110 million by offering 10 million shares at $11, the mid-point of the planned price range of $10-$12. This comes a few days after the CEO of Xiaomi declared the company will be the domestic market’s number one in 2.5 years.
Founded in 2013, Beijing-based Huami shipped 11.6 million units of smart wearable devices in the first nine months of 2017, according to its F1 foreign prospectus filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. As of September 30, 2017, Huami had shipped a total of 45.3 million devices since its inception in 2013.
It’s worth noting that Huami this week rolled out its latest smartwatch Amazfit Bip, featuring more than 30 days of battery life with regular use, and up to 45 days with minimal notifications, on a single charge. Also, Huami has been the sole partner of Xiaomi—an aspiring unicorn firm that makes smartphones and consumer electronics goods—to design and manufacture Xiaomi wearable products under the Mi brand.
Prior to the IPO, its investor included Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital, respectively owning 19.3% and 20.4% stake of Huami. Credit Suisse, Citigroup and China Renaissance are the joint book runners for the offering.
Some industry watchers are arguing that Huami’s listing looks like a gravity-defying debut, as most of the major indexes were down around 4 percent on the same day. Unlike the troubled micro-lending tycoon Qudian, which has been questioned for its operation ethics upon its massive US IPO last year, Huami might be less controversial for offshore Chinese IPOs given its nature as a consumer electronics company, as suggested by newsdoug in a blog post.
A recent report also pointed out that in the first quarter of 2018, Xiaomi may outrun OPPO and become the second largest Chinese smartphone brand (in Chinese) considering the global shipment, and Huawei may remain the largest.