Fresh Morning Technology丨 Microsoft blizzard acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash; Ericsson once again sued Apple for 5G patents; Starbucks announced the launch of the Meituan platform

Comprehensive report of the Digital Economy Research Group of 21st Century Business Herald

Good morning and a new day begins. What interesting things have happened in the tech industry in the last 24 hours? Take a look at 21tech.

【Giant weather vane】

1. Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash. On the evening of January 18, Beijing time, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Activision Blizzard in full cash at a price of $95 per share, including Activision Blizzard's net cash, with a transaction value of $68.7 billion (about 436.4 billion yuan). It will be the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history. The acquisition, which is at a premium of about 45 percent and an equity valued at about $74 billion, has been approved by microsoft and Activision Blizzard's boards of directors, according to calculations. After the transaction is completed, Microsoft will become the world's third-largest game company after Tencent and Sony. Activision Blizzard rose 25.88% at $81.31 as of the close, bringing a total market capitalization of $64.1 billion.

2. Ericsson once again sued Apple over the 5G patent. On January 18, telecom giant Ericsson reportedly filed another set of patent infringement lawsuits against Apple, a long-standing dispute between the two companies over the patent fees for using 5G wireless patents in the iPhone. In 2021, the two companies sued each other after failed negotiations in the United States to renew a seven-year telecommunications patent licensing contract covering 2G, 3G and 4G technologies developed in 2015. Despite lengthy negotiations, the two companies have been unable to reach a new patent licensing agreement that also covers 5G.

3. Starbucks announced the launch of the Meituan platform. On January 18, Starbucks announced its partnership with Meituan and launched services such as "1971 Living Room" on its platform. Previously, it was pointed out that Starbucks intends to open up cooperation with brands such as SF, Meituan, and Sam's Club after the exclusive cooperation is over. However, Starbucks staff said that at present, Starbucks only has its own channels such as Meituan, Ele.me, the official App and WeChat Mini Program.

4) YouTube will close its original programming division and shift its focus to content creators. Google-owned YouTube will reportedly end its original programming business, focusing on the millions of creators who provide content to the video platform. YouTube chief commercial officer Robert Kyncl said Tuesday that the video platform will invest in live streaming, its Black Voices Fund and its YouTube Shorts, which competes with TikTok. Susanne Daniels, who runs YouTube Originals, will leave the company in March.

5. JD.com announced a strategic cooperation with Shopify Overseas merchants can enter China quickly in 21 days. On the evening of January 18, JD.com announced a strategic cooperation with Global Internet Infrastructure Provider Shopify, becoming Shopify's first Strategic Partner in China. With this cooperation, JD.com will open up a green channel for international merchants and emerging brands on Shopify to settle in the green, and at the same time help Chinese merchants to go to sea in one stop, establish a DTC (Direct-to-consumer) independent station for the global market through Shopify, and create a "JD one-stop selection platform" to open up the commodity pool based on the JD supply chain network for Shopify global merchants.

6. Dingdong was fined more than 380,000 yuan for failing the sampling inspection. According to the administrative penalty information published on the website of the Shanghai Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, Shanghai Yibaimi Network Technology Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Dingdong Grocery Shopping, added an administrative penalty and was fined about 388,800 yuan. After investigation, the batch of unqualified bream sold by the parties was purchased from the supplier on the evening of July 27, 2021, with a total purchase quantity of 1775.52 copies, and on July 29, the sampling inspection of the pre-warehouse entrusted by the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau found that the sampling test result of the "Enrofloxacin" content was unqualified.

7. The third nucleic acid result of Lenovo's close contact employees is negative. On the afternoon of January 18, in response to the rumor that "Lenovo employees have positive nucleic acid results", Lenovo said that the remarks are rumors, and the company secretly contacted employees with negative nucleic acid results for the third time. Lenovo said that the actual situation is that the third nucleic acid result of the company's close contact employees is negative, and the other sub-close contacts currently have negative nucleic acid results and have no other symptoms. At the same time, in order to ensure the safety of the capital, the safety of the Winter Olympics and the safety of employees, the company has issued a new announcement: from now until this Sunday, it is recommended that Beijingite employees work from home and do not come to the company unless necessary.

8. A number of intermediary agencies were suspended from receiving materials due to the misrepresentation case involving LeTV. On January 18, a "warm reminder" circulated in the industry. According to the "Warm Tips" information, the CSRC will not accept the new declaration materials of Yongzhonghe and King & Wood Mallesons from January 18. Due to the case involving LeTV, Jia Yueting and other securities misrepresentation cases, many well-known intermediaries such as Zhongde Securities, Zhongtai Securities, Leanda, Huapu Tianjian, ShineWing and so on were sued by investors and stood in the defendant's seat. In this regard, ShineWing issued an internal email response saying that after communicating with the issuance department of the CSRC, they have not issued a notice of suspension of the acceptance of ShineWing's IPO and refinancing.

9. The central bank talks about the digital yuan pilot: as of December 31 last year, 260 million personal wallets have been opened. On January 18, Zou Lan, director of the Financial Market Department of Chinese Minsheng Bank, said at a press conference of the State Council's new office that at present, the People's Bank of China has carried out digital yuan pilots in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong'an, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and other places and the scene of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, basically covering the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, central, western, northeastern, northwest and other different regions. As of December 31, 2021, the digital yuan pilot scenario has exceeded 8.0851 million, with a total of 261 million personal wallets opened and a transaction amount of 87.565 billion yuan.

10. Liang Yong, chairman of Phoenix Media, resigned due to job transfer. On the afternoon of January 18, Phoenix Media issued an announcement saying that Liang Yong had requested to resign as a director, chairman and director of the strategy committee of the company due to job transfer. According to the relevant regulations, Liang Yong's resignation from office will not cause the number of board members to fall below the quorum, and his resignation report will take effect from the date it is served on the board of directors. The company will complete the election of the new chairman as soon as possible.

11. Yang Yuanqing stepped down as the chairman of Lenovo Communications. Recently, Shenzhen Lenovo Understand Communications Co., Ltd. underwent industrial and commercial changes, Lenovo Group Chairman Yang Yuanqing stepped down as the chairman of the company, replaced by He Zhiqiang. According to the official website, the communication is the intelligent Internet of Things service provider under Lenovo Venture Capital.

12. The "post-broadcast grading" model of Youku sub-account drama was officially launched. According to the official news of Youku's online drama cooperation platform, from January 17, 2022, the "post-broadcast rating" model of Youku sub-account dramas was officially launched. It is reported that although the sub-account model of the previous sub-account drama is the TO C model, the four files of S, A, B and C are all pre-broadcast ratings, so the income of the previous sub-account drama film party is actually jointly determined by the platform side and the audience, and now, "post-broadcast grading" is a completely market-oriented rule.

13. Jidu JiDU brand was officially released. On the morning of January 18, Baidu's official Weibo released a video announcing that @Jidu JiDU brand vision was officially released today, inspired by automotive robots, Jidu combined the concept of "pixel" with the letter "J" to create the industry's first automotive robot brand logo "Pixel-J". New set, open now.

【Listed Capital Flow】

1. Microsoft and others have injected $200 million into British self-driving startup Wayve. British self-driving technology startup Wayve announced on Monday that it has completed a $200 million funding round with investors including well-known companies such as Microsoft, Virgin and Baillie Gifford. The company was founded in 2017 and has received a total of $258 million in investment, including the latest round of funding.

2. "Deep Blue Aerospace" completed nearly 200 million yuan of A round financing. Recently, Jiangsu Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd. (Deep Blue Aerospace) announced the completion of nearly 200 million yuan of A round of financing, this round of financing led by Zhencheng Investment, Detong Capital, Oreh Capital, Galaxy Venture Capital, Zhuoyuan Capital. The funds in this round of financing will continue to be used for the development of the Nebulas-1 liquid rocket, the verification of the rocket's recyclable and reusable technology and the preparation for launch, while further strengthening the construction and training of the talent team.

【The most insightful】

1. Apple will complete the research and development of Apple Silicon's self-developed chip in Q4 this year. On the afternoon of January 18, it was reported that Apple will complete the research and development of Apple Silicon's self-developed chip in Q4 this year, when the entire series of Macs will use self-developed chips.

2. Unigroup Guowei: Net profit in 2021 pre-increased by 136%-160% year-on-year. Tsinghua Unigroup announced on the evening of January 18 that it expects net profit in 2021 to be 1.9 billion yuan - 2.1 billion yuan, an increase of 136% - 160% year-on-year. The downstream demand of the company's integrated circuit business is strong, the company is fully committed to ensuring order delivery, the special integrated circuit business has achieved rapid growth, contributing to sustained and stable profits, the profitability of the intelligent security chip business has been continuously improved, and the performance has improved significantly compared with the same period last year. In addition, the associated enterprise business has developed rapidly and achieved profitability during the reporting period.

3, Toyota: dragged down by the shortage of chips, unable to reach the annual production target of 9 million vehicles. Toyota motor said on Tuesday that the lingering covid-19 pandemic and the continued drag on semiconductor shortages during the period will not meet its target of producing 9 million vehicles by March 31. The world's largest automaker said it would produce 700,000 vehicles globally in February, more than last year but 150,000 fewer than initially planned.

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