Daily Brief TMT/Internet: Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), Pony AI, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) – ADR, VEON, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC), Liberty Media -Liberty For, Tuya Inc, Wolfspeed, MNTN and more

• Contemporary Amperex Technology (3750 HK) (CATL H), a global leader in providing battery solutions, was listed on the 20th May at $263/share. Here is the prospectus.
• Via the H-share listing, CATL raised ~US$5.2bn. Shares have since gained ~26% and trade at HK$330/share, as I type.
• It is worth noting the HKEx issued a high concentration warning in CATL’s H shares the day before shares were listed.

• Pony AI (PONY US) raised around US$260m in its upsized US ADR listing in Nov 2024. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.
• As per Frost & Sullivan, Pony AI was among the first companies in China to obtain licenses to operate fully driverless robotaxis in all four Tier-1 cities in China.
• In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.

• TSMC explained that the growing demand for autonomous driving technologies in smartphones, PCs, IoT devices, and the automotive industry is driving the development of its N4/N3 and N6RF process technologies.
• TSMC announced that the A14 process, which will adopt the new NanoFlex Pro technology, is scheduled to begin production in 2028.
• TSMC plans to launch CoWoS-L with 5.5x reticle size in 2026 and surpass current CoWoS limitations with 9.5x reticle size by 2027.

• Xiaomi to launch strategic new products on the 22nd, including the new SoC chip “Surge O1”.
• Xiaomi Surge O1 at a glance: benchmark scores suggest it’s a strong rival to MediaTek and Qualcomm.   
• While Xiaomi has not confirmed the chip’s foundry partner,  we believe it is very likely manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) – ADR (TSM US).  

• VEON returned to billion-dollar quarterly revenue in 1Q25; EBITDA grew 13.7% YoY on strong digital execution.
• Digital revenues rose 50% YoY, now 14.3% of group total.
• Kyivstar IPO on track for 3Q25 at US$2.3bn valuation; fintech optionality in Bangladesh and Ukraine emerging.

• Reports of Samsung securing 2nm customers (Nvidia, Qualcomm), but AMD is saying that TSMC has the best and only 2nm, Nvidia saying there’s no alternative to TSMC CoWoS.   
• Competition at 2nm / 18A is already over. Chips tape-out are rolling out. If Intel, Samsung can gain Foundry customers, it is for the next node 14A in 2027-28.
• The difficulty for Intel and Samsung is that TSMC is a lot faster to develop PDK, qualify process, tape-out chips. The total cost of chipdesign at US$0.5-1bn is another hurdle.  

• F1 is evolving to be more than just a sport, focusing on entertainment and business development
• The fan base is becoming younger and more diverse, with 40% women and 60% men, average age 35
• F1 is balancing historic venues with new races, aiming for 24 races per season and considering new markets in Asia and Africa

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• Tuya delivered a strong 1Q25, outperforming seasonal trends, with a record GAAP net profit of $11.0 million and a net margin of 14.8% (more than 20 percentage points higher Y/Y).
• Non-GAAP net profit also surged to $19.3 million, with margins reaching an impressive 25.8%.
• The company’s success reflects disciplined expense control, strong revenue momentum across all segments, and a growing emphasis on AI-driven solutions. 

• Over past year the price of Silicon Carbide wafers has declined by 50-60%, leading to the bankruptcy of Wolfspeed. The Western media tends to blame Chinese over-capacity and price cuts. 
• But all SiC firms have massively increased capacity: Infineon, Onsemi, STMicro. The vertical integration of the majors is also to blame: over-investments in a small market (rapidly growing, but small). 
• Who benefits? Nominally the big integrated vendors Infineon, Onsemi, Rohm, STMicro – but Power SiC is a small fraction of their revenues.

• MNTN priced a full-size deal of 11.7mm shares at the high-end of the range, $16.00, and opened at $21.00 for a gain of 31.3% at first trade. 
• The fireworks continued as the stock traded to a high of $26.88 before closing its opening session at $26.36 for a first day return of 65%.
• The deal was considered multiple-times oversubscribed and our sources stated that the final deal finished north of 12-times oversubscribed.