Produced by Radar Finance | Written by Meng Shuai | Edited by Shen Hai

The wealth of Zhou Qunfei, the 'woman' behind Cook, has soared.

In the latest Hurun Global Rich List, Zhou Qunfei, head of Lens Technology, and her husband Zheng Junlong reclaimed the title of Hunan's richest people with a fortune of 80 billion yuan, an increase of 34 billion yuan from the previous year. However, compared to their wealth of 107 billion yuan when they first appeared on the Hurun Global Rich List in 2021, Zhou Qunfei and Zheng Junlong's wealth has shrunk by 27 billion yuan.

Back in 2015, Zhou Qunfei once reached the pinnacle of being China's richest woman due to her remarkable business achievements. Unlike many female tycoons who primarily rely on 'inheritance' to make the list, Zhou Qunfei wrote a legend of self-made entrepreneurship with her own experiences.

Zhou Qunfei, who came from a poor background, was forced to drop out of school at the age of 15 to start working. During her difficult working life, she worked hard and studied diligently. With her perseverance and outstanding business acumen, she gradually rose from being a factory worker to the 'Queen of Mobile Phone Glass' renowned in the business world.

Last year, Lens Technology, headed by Zhou Qunfei, achieved another success, with revenue reaching a new high since its listing, and net profit attributable to shareholders also achieving significant growth. However, despite its efforts to shake off the label of 'dependence on Apple's supply chain,' one of the so-called 'three giants of the Apple supply chain,' nearly half of Lens Technology's sales last year still came from its largest customer. Based on various information, it is widely speculated that this customer is likely to be Apple Inc.

Zhou Qunfei tops the list of Hunan's richest people, with her wealth shrinking by 27 billion yuan compared to 2021

With the release of the latest Hurun Global Rich List, the changes in the wealth of global tycoons have once again become the focus of public attention. This year, the global business landscape remains lively, with Elon Musk, aged 53, taking the throne of the world's richest person for the fourth time in five years due to his outstanding business achievements.

Turning our attention back to China, Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, successfully took over the title of China's richest person from Zhong Shanshan, the 'king of bottled water,' at the age of just 42. In addition to the world's richest person and China's richest person attracting attention, the richest people in various provinces and cities have also become topics of interest among netizens.

In the list released by Hurun Research Institute this year, Zhou Qunfei and Zheng Junlong ranked 219th with a fortune of 80 billion yuan. Compared to the previous year, their wealth increased from 46 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan, an increase of 34 billion yuan, and their ranking soared by 256 positions.

Among all tycoons residing in China, the wealth of Zhou Qunfei and Zheng Junlong cannot be underestimated. They tied for 39th place with Lin Bin of Xiaomi, the Zhang Congyuan family of Huali Industrial, the Zong Fuli family of Wahaha, and Yan Bin of Reignwood Group.

Further narrowing the scope, among all tycoons residing in Hunan, Zhou Qunfei and Zheng Junlong directly topped the list, successfully claiming the title of Hunan's richest people. Zhou Qunfei's remarkable presence on the rich list is inseparable from Lens Technology, which she founded.

According to the financial report released by Lens Technology, the controlling shareholder of the company is Lens Technology (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., and Zhou Qunfei is the actual controller of the company. Her husband, Zheng Junlong, forms a concerted action (including agreements, relatives, and common control) relationship with her.

As of the end of last year, Lens Technology (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. and Changsha Qunxin Investment Consulting Co., Ltd. directly held 56.28% and 5.78% of the shares of the listed company, respectively. Both of the aforementioned companies are controlled by the actual controller of the company and belong to concerted action persons as stipulated in the Measures for the Administration of Takeovers of Listed Companies.

Among them, Lens Technology (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. is wholly owned by Zhou Qunfei. According to Tianyancha, Changsha Qunxin Investment Consulting Co., Ltd. is held by Zhou Qunfei and Zheng Junlong with shareholdings of 97.9% and 2.1%, respectively. In addition, Zheng Junlong also directly holds 0.07% of the shares of the listed company.

Radar Finance notes that in terms of the honor of being the richest person, Zhou Qunfei has actually stood on an even higher position before. Back in 2015, when Lens Technology successfully listed on the ChiNext, Zhou Qunfei became a billionaire overnight.

The 2015 Hurun List of China's Richest Women, released in October of the same year, showed that Zhou Qunfei, then aged 45, surpassed Chen Lihua and Yang Huiyan to become China's newest richest woman with a fortune of 50 billion yuan.

It is reported that Zhou Qunfei is the fourth richest woman to emerge in the decade since the Hurun List of China's Richest Women was first published. She also became the 'world's richest self-made woman' in 2015. At that time, Zhou Qunfei, who was in the limelight, ushered in the highlight moment of her life.

At that time, Hurun also said, 'No one paid attention to Zhou Qunfei before. I didn't expect her to become China's most successful female entrepreneur and also the world's most successful female entrepreneur as soon as she went public.'

Fast forward to 2021, on the Hurun Global Rich List that year, the wealth of Zhou Qunfei and Zheng Junlong once hit a new high of 107 billion yuan. However, compared to that year, their wealth on this year's list has decreased by 27 billion yuan.

'A Rocky Start,' Zhou Qunfei's Rise to Become the 'Queen of Mobile Phone Glass'

Unlike female tycoons like Yang Huiyan of Country Garden and Zong Fuli of Wahaha, who are labeled as 'inheritors' by the outside world, Zhou Qunfei wrote a legend of a factory worker rising from nothing to become a billionaire through her own experiences.

Zhou Qunfei was born into a poor family plagued by fate, and her starting point was fraught with thorns and obstacles. In 1970, Zhou Qunfei was born in a small village in Xiangxiang, Hunan. Fate seemed to be particularly harsh on her from the beginning. Before she was born, her father accidentally blew off two fingers and went blind. When she was five years old, her mother also passed away, leaving her forever. The already impoverished family instantly plunged into endless darkness.

In such a difficult living environment, the young Zhou Qunfei took on the heavy burden of life early on. Cutting grass, feeding pigs, and doing farm work became part of her daily life. Despite the hardships, this did not extinguish the fiery desire in her heart to change her fate and rise above others.

At the age of 15, the plight of her family was like a heavy mountain pressing down on her, forcing her to bid farewell to school with tears in her eyes and embark on an unknown path to make a living. After leaving her familiar village, she traveled to Shenzhen Aoya Optical Factory to work. During her time in the factory, she was like a dry sponge, eagerly absorbing knowledge. During the day, she sweated in the workshop; at night, she buried herself in night school.

At that time, with extraordinary perseverance and determination, she obtained a series of certificates such as an accounting certificate, computer operator certificate, customs declaration certificate, and Class B driver's license. However, as the recognized 'overachiever' in the factory, Zhou Qunfei soon felt that she could not learn anything new and resolutely resigned from her position, but was strongly retained. Subsequently, she was promoted to supervise the newly established screen printing department.

As the wheel of time rolled into the 1990s, the gears of Zhou Qunfei's fate began to accelerate. At that time, the watch glass processing factory where Zhou Qunfei worked was undergoing expansion, but the boss was preparing to withdraw investment halfway through construction. At the critical moment when the factory was about to close, Zhou Qunfei stepped forward with fearless courage and firm belief, volunteering to the boss, 'I understand all the company's skills; I just need an opportunity. If I succeed, you can set my salary as you wish; if I fail, I'll work for you for the rest of my life!'

This bravery and boldness impressed the boss, and Zhou Qunfei finally fulfilled her wish to become the factory director. After the factory was completed and put into production, Zhou Qunfei lived up to expectations, leveraging her outstanding management skills and superb technical proficiency to turn the factory into the most profitable one in the company.

However, life is always full of variables. Due to differences in business philosophy with the boss, Zhou Qunfei ultimately decided to go it alone. In March 1993, Zhou Qunfei and a few relatives embarked on a difficult entrepreneurial journey in a three-bedroom, one-living room apartment. They continued to engage in screen printing business in the form of a 'home workshop.'

That not-so-large three-bedroom apartment was fully utilized: women crowded into the master bedroom, men huddled in the small bedroom, the kitchen became the canteen, and the living room transformed into a workshop for printing, finished product inspection, and packaging. Despite the tough conditions, they were filled with visions and hopes for the future, and their business gradually improved day by day.

As industry competition became increasingly fierce, numerous processing factories emerged like mushrooms after a rain, and upstream and downstream industrial chain enterprises were constantly reshuffled. Zhou Qunfei's company faced a huge impact, and many payments were difficult to recover. In 1997, the Asian financial crisis swept in like a violent storm, adding more uncertainty to the already difficult entrepreneurial journey.

However, crises often contain turning points. At that time, some customers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, struggling with cash flow, paid off their processing fees with old equipment, which were important equipment in the watch glass processing industry chain.

Zhou Qunfei keenly captured this opportunity and decisively acted, purchasing several more grinding machines and profiling machines to establish a complete production line for watch glass, covering processes such as glass cutting, edging, polishing, screen printing, and coating. From then on, her company upgraded from a simple screen printing business to a watch glass supplier, gradually becoming prominent in the industry and gaining a certain reputation.

In 2001, a fortuitous opportunity completely changed the direction of Zhou Qunfei's career. At that time, through an old friend, Zhou Qunfei received an order from TCL to produce clamshell mobile phone panels. She boldly tried applying watch glass technology to mobile phone panel production, successfully replacing traditional organic glass.

Subsequently, TCL's first glass-screened mobile phone, the TCL3188, was stunningly launched, and its sales soared. Zhou Qunfei keenly perceived the huge potential of the mobile phone glass market and established Shenzhen Lens Technology Co., Ltd. in 2003, focusing on the research and development, production, and sales of mobile phone glass.

Relying on strict quality control and continuous innovation, Lens Technology stood out in the fierce market competition and successively secured orders from internationally renowned brands such as Motorola and Apple. As the number of customers increased, the company's scale also expanded, and Lens Technology gradually developed into a leading provider of one-stop precision manufacturing solutions for the entire intelligent terminal industry chain.

Radar Finance understands that currently, Lens Technology's main business involves structural components, functional modules, and assembly of products such as smartphones and computers, smart cars and cockpits, smart head-mounted displays and wearable devices, and humanoid robots. The former assembly line worker has now transformed into the well-deserved 'Queen of Mobile Phone Glass.'

The Female Tycoon 'Created' by Jobs and Cook, Seeking to Shake Off the Label of 'Dependence on Apple's Supply Chain'

Behind Zhou Qunfei's current soaring wealth lies the strong support of Lens Technology's impressive performance.

According to the financial report recently released by Lens Technology, the company achieved a total revenue of 69.897 billion yuan in 2024, an increase of nearly 30% compared to the previous year's 54.491 billion yuan. This figure also refreshed its revenue record since its listing.

In terms of profits, Lens Technology achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.624 billion yuan last year, an increase of nearly 20% compared to the same period last year's 3.021 billion yuan. This figure is second only to the 4.896 billion yuan in 2020, making it the second-highest profit since its listing in 2015.

Regarding its impressive performance last year, Lens Technology stated that in 2024, the company's vertical integration strategy for the industrial chain began to take effect, with the assembly business achieving rapid year-on-year growth. More self-owned upstream exterior parts, structural components, and functional modules were introduced, and all business lines achieved comprehensive growth.

At the same time, the company deepened cost reduction and efficiency enhancement, tapped into the potential of intelligent manufacturing, with the management expense ratio decreasing by 0.63 percentage points year-on-year, the sales expense ratio decreasing by 0.23 percentage points year-on-year, and the financial expense ratio decreasing by 0.52 percentage points year-on-year.

In addition, the company further increased its research and development investment, conducting cutting-edge research and development in areas such as foldable screen mobile phones, humanoid robots, AI glasses, smart cars, smart retail, and TGV through-hole glass substrates. It prepared core new technologies in advance and began applying them to a series of new products, with research and development expenditures reaching a record high of 2.785 billion yuan.

However, under the seemingly glamorous performance of Lens Technology, there are also hidden concerns. In many media reports, Lens Technology is often labeled with the tag of 'dependence on Apple's supply chain.' In fact, the rapid rise and current achievements of Lens Technology are indeed attributable to a large number of orders from Apple. Together with Luxshare Precision and GoerTek, it is known as one of the 'three giants of the Apple supply chain.'

Looking back, it was not easy for Lens Technology to gain Apple's favor. In 2007, when Apple was looking for a screen supplier for the first-generation iPhone, the technology of the original cooperation manufacturer did not meet the standards. Zhou Qunfei led her team to work day and night, even personally participating in factory cleaning and equipment debugging, and ultimately successfully passed the rigorous certification to become one of Apple's core suppliers.

Since then, the two parties have maintained a close cooperative relationship, and Zhou Qunfei's connection with Apple has continued from the era of Jobs to the era of Cook. During this period, thanks to Apple's strong market appeal and huge market share, Lens Technology's revenue soared to nearly 70 billion yuan in 2024.

Last March, during Cook's visit to Apple's China headquarters in Shanghai, Zhou Qunfei, the founder of Lens Technology, showed him the company's front cover glass for Apple's Vision Pro and exclaimed, 'This is the most difficult product I've made in my 35 years in the industry.'

In fact, Apple is not the only partner of Lens Technology. It disclosed in its financial report that global well-known manufacturers such as Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Honor, Google, Meta, Tesla, CATL, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, NIO, and BYD are all long-term strategic partners of the company.

However, due to its high degree of dependence on Apple, Lens Technology's performance and stock price performance are highly susceptible to related news. There are even voices mocking that Zhou Qunfei is the richest woman in China 'created' by Jobs and Cook.

It is worth mentioning that not long ago, Lens Technology announced its plan to seek a secondary listing in Hong Kong through a public announcement. The prospectus shows that from 2022 to 2024, the company's sales to its largest customer were 33.136 billion yuan, 31.512 billion yuan, and 34.567 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 71%, 57.8%, and 49.5% of total revenue for the same period.

Judging from the aforementioned data, Lens Technology's dependence on its largest customer has eased, but nearly half of its sales last year still came from this customer. Although the company did not disclose specific customer information, based on past data, it is widely speculated that its largest customer is likely still Apple.

To improve this situation, Lens Technology has been striving to advance the process of 'de-Appleization' in recent years and actively deploying in emerging sectors such as smart cars and wearable devices, but this path is full of challenges. Further analysis of the company's revenue composition reveals that last year, Lens Technology's smartphone and computer business contributed 82.63% of its revenue.

Over the same period, the revenue contribution of smart vehicles and cockpit systems, smart head-mounted displays and wearable devices, other smart terminals, and other businesses to Lens Technology accounted for 8.49%, 4.99%, 2.01%, and 1.88% respectively, none of which exceeded 10%. It can be seen that smartphones and computer products are the main revenue pillars for Lens Technology, and the company's performance is highly dependent on them.

In terms of regions, Lens Technology's revenue from foreign and domestic markets accounted for 58.63% and 41.37% respectively last year. Given the current macroeconomic environment, this revenue structure of Lens Technology undoubtedly raises concerns about its future development among outsiders.

On April 17 this year, at the performance communication meeting, Lens Technology addressed concerns about tariffs from the outside world, stating that for now, the expected impact of changes in tariff policies on overall operations is very limited. The company will also continue to monitor changes in the external environment and quickly adjust strategies according to the situation to actively respond to various challenges and opportunities together with customers.

Lens Technology further explained that 58% of the company's overseas business in 2024 is mainly composed of components and functional modules, most of which are delivered to domestic bonded areas, naturally avoiding tariff risks. Subsequently, the assembled products are exported overseas by assembly manufacturers. For the supply of components to overseas assembly plants, the company adopts FOB terms or charges customers for freight to deliver goods to the designated destination when transacting with overseas customers, with the importing customers bearing the customs duty payment.

From an assembly line worker to the "Queen of Global Mobile Phone Glass," Zhou Qunfei's entrepreneurial history is nothing short of legendary. Amidst the transformation of the consumer electronics industry and intensified global competition, where will Zhou Qunfei lead the company next? Radar Finance will continue to keep an eye on it.