Outdoor and Chip Dual Engines: How Toread is Reshaping Growth Logic with Policy Tailwinds

The '15th Five-Year Plan' for Sports Powerhouse Construction, issued by China's General Administration of Sport on July 22, and the '15th Five-Year Plan' for Expanding Consumption, released by the State Council on July 13, have elevated outdoor sports industry upgrades and smart wearable consumption to a national strategic level. The former targets a total sports industry scale exceeding RMB 7 trillion by 2030, while the latter lists sports fitness and AI smart terminals as core drivers of domestic demand. Against this dual policy backdrop, Toread, the only A-share company spanning both outdoor apparel and chip design, posted striking H1 2026 earnings guidance: net profit attributable to shareholders is expected to grow 128.92% to 178.69% year-on-year, with recurring net profit growing even faster at 166.58% to 211.01%.

Real Growth Engine: Chip Business Accelerates

The core driver of Toread's earnings surge is not its outdoor business but the chip segment's explosive growth. In Q1 2026, chip revenue hit RMB 179 million, up 206.92% year-on-year, accounting for 36.09% of total revenue. This single-quarter chip revenue already represents 78% of the full-year 2025 chip revenue of RMB 230 million, indicating a strong consolidation and growth effect. Newly consolidated subsidiaries Shanghai Tongtu and Shenzhen Betterlife are key contributors: Tongtu holds core AI large-model compression technology, with its IP integrated into supply chains of over 20 leading domestic chip design firms; Betterlife specializes in fingerprint recognition and touch sensor chips, serving multiple major consumer electronics OEMs. This complete chip product line—covering sensing, interaction, display, and AI computing optimization—transforms Toread from a mere outdoor brand into a player in the smart wearable upstream chain.

Notably, recurring net profit growth significantly outpaces attributable net profit growth, suggesting that core business cash generation is strengthening and non-recurring gains are becoming less influential. This implies the chip business growth is sustainable, not a one-off consolidation boost. In June 2026, Tongtu signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with global ecosystem platform GNS, following its AI compression IP partnership with a leading intelligent driving computing solution provider. G2 Touch's touch control chips have also entered the in-vehicle supply chains of multiple automakers, extending chip applications from consumer electronics to automotive electronics, opening a second growth curve.

Outdoor Business Tech Backflow: From Extreme Environments to Mass Market

On the outdoor front, Toread hasn't relaxed its core business despite chip growth. Its 'hardcore outdoor—light outdoor—pan-outdoor' product ecosystem covers mountaineering, hiking, trail running, skiing, and camping. More importantly, the company is synergizing its in-house chip capabilities with outdoor gear innovation. The 2026 smart exoskeleton Crest C3 weighs just 1.8 kg with a 10:1 thrust-to-weight ratio, featuring next-gen AI gait algorithms that recognize over 10 outdoor movement patterns in milliseconds and provide adaptive assist. During the 618 pre-sale period, daily sales exceeded 100 units, with home health and outdoor mobility demand expanding.

This product fills a gap in domestic consumer-level smart power equipment and directly aligns with the health and silver consumption direction in the '15th Five-Year Plan' for Expanding Consumption. Toread's 27-year technology accumulation in extreme environments—from Shenzhou-12 to Shenzhou-23 astronaut cabin equipment to 17 consecutive years supplying China's polar expeditions—is now being translated into reliable mass-market outdoor gear. Its January 2026 strategic partnership with Beijing Transporter Manned Space Technology Co. further expands the 'aerospace+outdoor' industry system.

Policy Resonance and Industry Lessons

The combined effect of the two '15th Five-Year Plans' opens unprecedented policy space for outdoor sports and smart equipment. The Sports Powerhouse Plan explicitly calls for an outdoor sports industry upgrade project, building 100 high-quality outdoor sports destinations and opening water, air, and mountain resources for outdoor activities. The Consumption Plan focuses on sports fitness, AI+smart terminals, and health silver consumption. Toread's dual-core layout precisely aligns: outdoor business benefits from mass fitness consumption expansion, chip business enters the smart wearable and AI integration upstream, and Crest C3 exoskeleton targets the silver health market.

For the industry, Toread offers two key lessons. First, traditional outdoor brands must extend beyond fabric upgrades and style iterations to upstream technologies like smart wearables and AI integration to capture policy-driven incremental markets. Second, chip business high growth is not accidental—it requires long-term technology accumulation and strategic patience. Toread's technology validation from aerospace and polar extremes is becoming a differentiation barrier for its smart equipment.

For Buyers - Watch for cross-sector collaborations among smart wearable chip suppliers, especially those with AI compression and touch sensor IP—these will be key differentiators for future outdoor gear. - For outdoor gear procurement, consumer-level exoskeleton products like Crest C3 have moved from concept to production; consider early deployment in health and mobility assistance segments.

For Foreign Trade Companies - The extension of chip business into automotive electronics and intelligent driving means the supply chain value of outdoor brands is being restructured. Monitor in-vehicle touch chip supply needs from companies like Toread. - As the '15th Five-Year Plan' progresses, outdoor sports destination construction will drive equipment exports; new categories like smart exoskeletons could become new export growth points.