In education, scientific research, and professional work, reviewing, commenting, and collating long texts has become the norm. Online materials have increased, but fragmented information and multi-tasking environments can easily consume reading concentration and cause visual fatigue. In this context, knowledge-focused intelligent tools created specifically for processing long texts came into being. This type of device provides a more comprehensive workflow for reading, writing, organizing, synchronizing, or archiving. According to Frost & Sullivan data, the global market size of knowledge-focused productivity tools (in terms of retail value) is expected to exceed 80 billion yuan in 2030. Industry demand will continue to expand, attracting leading racetrack companies to increase their financing needs.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 23, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange disclosed that Guangzhou Wenshi Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Wenshi Information for short) submitted a listing application to the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and CITIC Construction Investment International is the sole sponsor. The company submitted its listing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 16, 2026. The fund-raising plan is used to enhance the company's technology development and product iteration capabilities, enhance sales and marketing capabilities, upgrade production facilities and supply chain, seek mergers and acquisitions and investment opportunities, and supplement working capital.
The number one knowledge-focused productivity tool brand in China
According to the prospectus, Wenshi Information was founded in 2008. The company is a global technology consumer electronics brand company in the knowledge-focused productivity tool industry. It is committed to helping global knowledge workers efficiently obtain text information by providing smart hardware devices with paper-like reading and writing, focus and portable functions, and present high-value content through functions such as summarizing, searching, editing, and managing information. The company's smart hardware devices are divided into two categories: high-speed readers and productivity tablets. In the first half of 2026, high-speed readers accounted for 18.2% of the company's revenue, and productivity tablets accounted for 66.9% of revenue.
Wenshi Information's core technology accumulation is divided into three layers: hardware, system, and software applications. The self-developed BOOX OS open operating system is pre-installed with all hardware, which can optimize the clarity, color and refresh response performance of the electronic ink screen, and integrates AI and cloud service capabilities; StarNote, an independent reading and writing application, enables simultaneous storage and access of notes and annotations across devices. Relying on a combination of software and hardware as an ecological portal, the company has built a product system with reading and writing as the core for knowledge workers around the world. As of June 30, 2026, BOOX OS had more than 1.2 million monthly active users; the software product StarNote had accumulated downloads of about 2 million times.
According to Frost & Sullivan data, knowledge-focused productivity tools are a segmented racetrack under knowledge-focused intelligent tools. Based on 2025 retail value, this market segment accounts for nearly half of the total market size. Within this segment, Wenshi Information is the number one domestic brand and the second largest in the world, and the company's global market share is 4.2%.
Revenue grew steadily, and high inventories led to cash flow mismatches
In terms of performance, in 2023, 2024, 2025 and the first half of 2026, Wenshi Information's revenue was approximately 804 million yuan, 1,018 million yuan, 1,128 million yuan and 574 million yuan respectively; gross sales margins for the same period were 33.5%, 36.9%, 37.7% and 36.5%, respectively; profit for the period was 124 million yuan, 121 million yuan, 131 million yuan and 53 million yuan, respectively. Affected by factors such as increased sales and distribution expenses and R&D expenses, the company's net profit margin fell from 15.4% in 2023 to 9.3% in the first half of 2026.
It is worth noting that the net cash flow from the operating activities of Shiji Information, which is the net outflow of book profit, was 71 million yuan and 199 million yuan in 2025 and the first half of 2026, respectively.
Wenshi Information stated in the prospectus that the cash flow mismatch was mainly due to the increase in inventory and inventory turnover days during the corresponding period, and the difference between the number of inventory turnover days and the number of trade payables and notes payable during the performance recording period. The company's inventory turnover days were 153 days and 155 days in 2023 and 2024, respectively, and increased to 209 days in 2025 and 313 days in the first half of 2026.
The decline in inventory turnover efficiency is mainly due to the company predicting future sales growth and reserving key components in advance to hedge risks such as component price fluctuations, long delivery cycles, global trade frictions, and supply chain instability, thereby boosting inventory size. According to the prospectus, Wenshi Information's inventory amount increased from 242 million yuan in 2023 to 749 million yuan in the first half of 2026. In contrast, from 2023 to the first half of 2026, the company's trade payables and notes payable turnaround days ranged from 41 to 51 days. Wenshi Information further pointed out that the company has adopted liquidity management measures to manage this mismatch, improve the net operating cash outflow situation, reduce overall working capital risk, and improve working capital efficiency.
It can be seen from this that Wenshi Information is a technology company that occupies a leading position in segmented racetracks and has the ability to combine software and hardware technology. The core focus of a company's listing is whether it can use capital market resources to resolve current profit and cash flow pressure, and transform its ecological advantages into more stable profits and growth.
The global knowledge-focused smart tools market is expected to expand steadily
According to Frost & Sullivan data, there is strong certainty about the growth of the knowledge-focused productivity tool circuit. The global knowledge-focused productivity tools market grew from 13.8 billion yuan in 2021 to 35.3 billion yuan in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 26.5% from 2021 to 2025; it is expected that from 2026 to 2030, the market size will further grow from 44.4 billion yuan to 80.4 billion yuan, maintaining a compound annual growth rate of 16%. The penetration rate of knowledge-based productivity tools reached 51.8% in 2025 and is expected to increase to 68% by 2030.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that the increase in demand for knowledge-focused productivity tools mainly comes from scenarios such as education, academic research, and professional offices. User demand for in-depth reading of long texts and document annotation and arrangement continues to rise. Coupled with the acceleration of the digitization process of paper materials, the penetration rate of knowledge-focused productivity tools continues to rise.
Knowledge-focused productivity tools Technical iteration is the core engine driving the expansion of the racetrack. On the one hand, color electronic ink technology continues to mature, making up for the shortcomings in the application of traditional black and white ink screens and broadening the application space of products in scenarios such as reading textbooks and reviewing graphic materials; on the other hand, AI models and cloud services are gradually embedded in e-paper devices. The products are no longer limited to basic functions of reading and handwritten annotations, and can achieve value-added capabilities such as document summarization, content retrieval, and intelligent note organization, and enhance product productivity attributes.
In the knowledge-focused productivity tool circuit, Wenshi Information has built a self-developed “hardware+OS+ software” ecosystem, and its open operating system BOOX OS and the note-taking application StarNote form the core competencies. Open system equipment, represented by Wenshi's BOOX series, supports the installation of third-party applications, adapts to the diverse and personalized workflow needs of users, and is favored by global knowledge groups.
However, the competitive risks faced by the company cannot be ignored. According to Frost & Sullivan statistics, the total market share of the top five participants in the global knowledge-focused productivity tool circuit in 2025 was only 27.4%, and the industry is still in a fully competitive stage. Overseas markets include mature brands such as reMarkable and Kobo. In the domestic market, manufacturers such as iFLYX and Hanwang of the Chinese University of Science and Technology continue to upgrade e-paper hardware; in addition, ordinary consumer tablets will also divert part of the demand for lightweight note-reading. The competitive dimension of the industry covers many aspects such as hardware screen quality, handwritten algorithm accuracy, operating system experience, software ecosystem construction, and global channel brand operation. This requires Wenshi Information to continue to increase investment in R&D to create a differentiated competitive advantage.
Overall, with its self-developed software and hardware ecosystem and global channel layout, Wenshi Information occupies a leading position on the knowledge-focused productivity tool circuit, and there is plenty of room for medium- to long-term growth. Currently, the company is still in the business expansion stage, and revenue continues to grow, but it faces operational challenges such as profit pressure, continuous operating cash flow outflow, and high inventory scale. If it can successfully enter the Hong Kong stock market and use capital market financial support, the company is expected to further consolidate its core competitiveness and unleash long-term growth potential.