When the listing is in progress
Star Reading Holdings Limited
36Kr learned that on the 29th, Xingyue Holdings Co., Ltd. submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the joint sponsors were Huatai International and Dongxing Securities (Hong Kong).
TOP3 big news
Evergrande Group CEO Sean responded to China Evergrande's liquidation order: he will steadily promote key tasks such as ensuring the delivery of buildings
According to CCTV News, the Hong Kong court issued a winding-up order against China Evergrande. According to the Securities Times, the judge pointed out that China Evergrande's debt restructuring plan lacked progress and the company was insolvent, and formally ordered China Evergrande to liquidate. Since then, China Evergrande, Evergrande Automobile, and Evergrande Property have been suspended from trading in the intraday. Before the suspension, China Evergrande's shares fell 20.87% to HK$0.163 per share, Evergrande Property fell 2.50% to HK$0.390 per share, and Evergrande Auto fell 18.21% to HK$0.229 per share.
Evergrande Group CEO Sean responded to China Evergrande's liquidation order: Next, the Group will face difficulties and problems, take all legal and compliance measures, and steadily promote the normal operation of the Group's business on the premise of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of domestic and foreign creditors, and will also actively communicate with the liquidators, cooperate with the liquidators to perform relevant procedures in accordance with the law, and promote debt resolution and other work in accordance with international practices and market rules. We will steadily promote key tasks such as ensuring the delivery of buildings. (21st Century Business Herald, CCTV News, Securities Times)
Rolex's second-hand market dived, and some watch dealers lost 1.5 million
According to Times Finance, on January 29, the watch data monitoring platform WatchCharts released a report that the price index of the Swiss high-end watch brand Rolex in the second-hand market fell by 0.5% in December after falling in November, and the index has fallen by 30% from the previous high. A Shanghai-based watchmaker revealed, "We recycled an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 26585 at the end of 2022 for a whopping 3.85 million yuan. In July 2023, the transaction was made at a price of 2.35 million yuan, with a direct loss of 1.5 million yuan. In the past year, the biggest drop in price has been this Audemars Piguet.
It's not just Rolex that has fallen out of favor in the second-hand market. According to WatchCharts, the overall price index of pre-owned watches fell by 13.8% in 2023. The price indices of Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet fell by 8.2%, 15.6% and 18.5% respectively during the year. (Times Finance)
Apple Android or implement WiFi messaging
During the Q&A session in the latest issue of the Power On newsletter, Gurman said that iOS 18 is seen internally within Apple as one of the most important iOS updates in the company's history, and may not even be one of them. In November 2023, Apple announced that it would support RCS, the cross-platform messaging standard, in iPhone messaging apps later in 2024. Therefore, RCS support is likely to become an important feature of iOS 18. RCS support will bring improvements such as higher resolution pictures and videos, voice messages, typing prompts, read receipts, Wi-Fi messaging between iPhone and Android devices, improved group chat features, including iPhone users to log out of conversations containing Android users, and stronger encryption compared to SMS. (IT House)
Big company/big event
AutoNavi's response collapsed: there was a technical failure in some online ride-hailing platforms
According to IT Home, on January 29, netizens reported on social platforms that they could not take a taxi with AutoNavi Map, the price was still metered when they got off the car, and the order information could not be loaded on the driver's side. In this regard, AutoNavi Taxi officially issued a document saying: "There are technical failures on individual online car-hailing platforms on AutoNavi Taxi, which has affected some services. After emergency repairs, the service has been fully restored. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused!" (IT House)
Borui Wu will take over as CTO of Volkswagen Group China on April 1
Thomas Ulbrich, member of the Volkswagen brand's management board responsible for the "New Mobility" business, will take over as CTO of Volkswagen Group China on April 1. The functions of the "New Mobility" and "Technology Development" functions of the Volkswagen Brand Management Board will be unified under the responsibility of Kai Grünitz, Director of Brand Technology and Development. (Interface News)
Ma Huateng: Going overseas is actually Tencent's biggest hope for internationalization
Finance Associated Press, January 29, Tencent Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO Ma Huateng said that games are Tencent's trump card business, and games going overseas is actually Tencent's biggest hope for internationalization. In the past few years, the company has given full play to its advantages and established a reputation in the research and development of mobile games and network operation of overseas large IP game companies. Tencent hopes to do a thorough and solid job in software and game research and development, rather than being an enemy of other game companies or hardware manufacturers from a deep perspective, and more importantly, to find its own main business and focus on it, so that it has a better chance of winning. (Finance Associated Press)
Cudi Coffee was exposed to forcing stores to sell alcohol, and the affiliate responded
Recently, the news about Cudi Coffee selling liquor has spread. However, a number of netizens who claimed to be an affiliate of Cudi Coffee posted on social media that Cudi Coffee's headquarters "forced" stores to sell alcohol. Regarding the statement that "forced liquor selling" and "the new regulations were withdrawn shortly after the introduction of the new regulations", on the afternoon of January 27, Cudi Coffee responded: "The orders of Moutai Bulao Liquor (Hua Zhijiu) and Maotan Liquor (Gu Zhihuan) are consistent with the daily orders of the store, and the first batch of orders will be one case for each of the two wines, and the payment will not be deducted, and the payment will be settled on April 30, and the unsold part of the company will be collected in a unified manner." The deducted store will complete the refund to the store balance account on January 22. Affiliates who need to place additional orders can have them delivered to the store with their daily orders or delivered to a designated location. (National Business Daily, Sina Finance)
Baidu search in Microsoft's Edge browser has returned to normal
Microsoft Edge browser is suspected of blocking Baidu search results, using Baidu search in Microsoft Edge browser, clicking on any search result will appear an insecurity warning, and a large number of netizens also have relevant fault feedback. At around 6 p.m., the actual test found that the above problems have been fixed, and the Baidu search results of the Edge browser can be opened normally. The "failure" lasted about 3 hours, and there has been no official reply from both sides on the specific cause. (Finance Associated Press)
Jiachuang Video: The company's Vision Pro-related projects are still in the planning stage, and the impact on performance cannot be estimated
Jiachuang Video recently said on the interactive platform that the company's relevant team participated in the first Vision Pro practical experience and adaptation at the end of August 2023, and was invited to participate in a closed-door discussion since then, and Apple's developer relations team continues to conduct one-on-one counseling for the company's related projects. In addition, the company has already ordered several Vision Pro devices and will move forward with a number of related projects in the future. The staff of Jiachuang Video said that the company's current projects on Vision Pro are for the online application of the device, and the other is the offline experience of the full-sense theater. Among them, online applications may not be charged, while the price of a single ticket for a single person for offline experience is expected to be around 400-500 yuan, but the relevant projects are still in the planning stage, and the impact on performance cannot be estimated. (CBN)
Pet Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner Sales Soar 120%
As the Spring Festival approaches, the sales of gold jewelry have risen sharply year-on-year, and the arrangement of pets is more "volume". Sales data shows that dog Spring Festival clothes search in the first few days soared 103%, pet Chinese New Year's Eve dinner and pet Spring Festival sales this year "sprung up", pet Chinese New Year's Eve dinner before the holiday sales soared 120%, pet Spring Festival sales increased by 489%. Some netizens ridiculed: "The dog is the one who is most looking forward to the Spring Festival, right?" A large number of exquisite Chinese New Year's Eve lunch boxes appeared on the e-commerce platform. When inquired, a pet shop owner said that as the Spring Festival approached, it was obvious that there was a large increase in business. (Sina Finance)
Dong Mingzhu announced that he would issue an additional 200 million year-end bonus: allowing employees to work with dignity is an important cornerstone of enterprise development
On January 28, at the Gree Global Dream Ceremony, Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree, publicly announced at the conference that an additional 200 million yuan would be used to distribute year-end bonuses. She believes that the dignified work of employees is an important cornerstone of enterprise development, and altruistic thinking is the key to promoting the continuous progress of enterprises. (Southern Metropolis Daily)
Zhang Xuefeng distributed 11 catties of New Year's goods to the company's employees
January 29, Suzhou, Jiangsu. According to the video released by Zhang Xuefeng's team, Zhang Xuefeng distributed 11 catties of New Year's goods to the company's employees. In the video, Zhang Xuefeng said that he had prepared some New Year's goods for everyone, and said, "This thing is not just for everyone, I hope everyone can take it home, to family, to friends, and to bring you some New Year blessings."
Previously, in October 2023, Zhang Xuefeng said that his Fengxue Weilai Company had 18 days off during the Spring Festival, plus "four days off and three days off", and he only had to work for 7 days in February 2024. once aroused the attention and discussion of netizens. Later, Zhang Xuefeng once explained that everyone who went home for the New Year and returned to work missed the peak period, and the air tickets would be cheaper, which could also save everyone money. (China Net Finance)
The price of battery cells has dropped to the "cabbage price"
According to China Energy News, in 2023, the price of power and energy storage cells will fluctuate and decline all the way, and in the eyes of industry insiders, the current price of battery cells has dropped to the "cabbage price". According to the data of Xinchun Lithium Battery, an industry research institution, on January 24, the average prices of square lithium iron phosphate power and energy storage cells were 0.38 yuan/Wh and 0.43 yuan/Wh, respectively, and the lowest prices were 0.33 yuan/Wh and 0.38 yuan/Wh. In the opinion of the interviewees, after the development of new energy vehicles and energy storage industries gradually matures, they will not grow explosively as in previous years, and will still maintain a rational and stable growth trend this year. In view of multiple factors such as structural overcapacity in the industry, weakening raw material prices, and fierce market competition, it is expected that battery cell prices will decline. (Securities Times)
More than 140 million train tickets have been sold during the Spring Festival travel period
The reporter learned from the Railway 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center that on January 28, Railway 12306 began to sell tickets on February 11 (the second day of the Lunar New Year), and a total of 16.058 million tickets were sold by railways across the country. Since the launch of railway Spring Festival ticketing on January 12, a total of nearly 280 million train tickets have been sold, including 143.505 million tickets during the Spring Festival, a year-on-year increase of 107.2%. Railway 12306 sold 20.901 million tickets in a single day, and the highest number of visits in a single day reached 83.88 billion. (CCTV News)
Ryanair lowered its earnings forecast due to fuel costs and online demand
Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline, cut its profit forecast for the current fiscal year on Jan. 29, citing lower fares due to higher fuel prices and the removal of tickets from the list by websites such as Booking.com. The airline's profit after tax in the third quarter was 15 million euros, down from 211 million euros in the same period last year, and it expects full-year profits to reach up to 1.95 billion euros, below the previous upper limit of 2.05 billion euros, and at the lower end of the range is expected to remain at 1.85 billion euros. (Interface News)
Americana, the Middle East operator of KFC, laid off nearly 100 employees
Americana Restaurants International Plc, the Middle East operator of KFC and Pizza Hut, laid off nearly 100 employees in an internal restructuring. The operator employs tens of thousands of people in the Middle East. (Interface News)
Japanese retailer Aeon has negotiated with Oasis to purchase a stake in Tsuruha Drugstore
Japanese retailer Aeon said it had entered into exclusive talks with Oasis Management to acquire Tsuruha Drugstore. Nikkei reported earlier that if Oasis agrees to sell its roughly 13% stake, Aeon may consider Tsuruha Drugstore as an affiliate under its equity method. (Interface News)
NTT and Intel are said to be working together to develop next-generation semiconductors
According to reports, on January 29, NTT and Intel are reported to jointly develop the next generation of semiconductors, and the Japanese government will support 45 billion yen. (Interface News)
Musk announced the first human brain chip implant
Musk said that the first human received a Neuralink brain chip implant on January 29, and the implant person is recovering well. Neuralink is a company founded by Elon Musk in 2016 to research brain-computer interface technology. A brain-computer interface is to implant tiny electrodes into the brain and use electrical current to "interact" with the computer and brain cells. In November 2023, Neuralink was looking for volunteers for its first clinical trial, where participants agreed to have a surgeon remove a skull so that a robot could connect a series of electrodes and ultra-fine wires to the brain. When the robot finishes its work, the part that has lost its skull is covered with a 25-cent computer chip that will remain in place for years. The aim is to analyze and read the subject's brain activity and then send the information wirelessly to a nearby laptop or tablet. (Finance Associated Press)
The three major U.S. stock indexes collectively closed higher, and most of the large technology stocks rose
36Kr learned that at the close of trading on the 29th, the three major U.S. stock indexes collectively closed up. The Nasdaq rose 1.12%, the S&P 500 rose 0.76%, and the Dow rose 0.59%. Most of the big tech stocks rose, with Tesla up more than 4%, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft up more than 1%, Google and Netflix rising slightly, and Apple falling slightly. Most of the popular Chinese concept stocks fell, with MINISO falling more than 10%, JD.com, Bilibili, and iQiyi falling more than 1%, NetEase falling more than 2%, and New Oriental falling more than 4%.
Musk responds that Tesla's R&D spending is much lower than Apple's: there are huge differences between companies
According to IT House, on January 28, Tesla announced that its R&D expenditure in 2023 will be $3.969 billion, a record high in the company's history, but it is still far lower than some other technology companies in the "Big Seven". Apple spent a whopping $29.92 billion on R&D in fiscal year 2023, and Microsoft also spent $27.2 billion on R&D.
"In 2023, Apple spent about $29 billion on R&D, more than Tesla has spent on R&D in its entire history," electric vehicle analyst Sawyer Merritt posted on X. This really gives you an idea of how much innovation Tesla gets for every dollar invested in R&D. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded: "There is a huge difference between companies when it comes to the effectiveness of R&D spending. (IT House)
The world's largest cement producer, Haussimon, plans to spin off its North American operations at a valuation of more than $30 billion
Holcim, the world's largest cement producer, said on Jan. 28 that it plans to spin off its fast-growing North American business, paving the way for a U.S. listing next year, valuing the company at more than $30 billion. The Swiss building materials manufacturer has also appointed its head of Europe, Miljan Gutovic, as CEO. He will succeed Jan Jenisch, who will continue as chairman. The executive changes will take effect on May 1. (Interface News)
South Korea's share of China's total imports fell to 6.3 percent, the lowest in 30 years
Data released on January 28 showed that South Korean products accounted for less than 7% of China's total imports in 2023, the lowest level in 30 years, due to changes in the global trade pattern and the downturn in the IT industry. According to data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), South Korea accounted for 6.3% of China's total imports in 2023, compared to 7.4% in 2022. This is the lowest value since 1993, when the corresponding figure was 5.2 per cent. In particular, due to sluggish global demand for semiconductors, South Korea's exports of this major product to China decreased by 30.6% to $36.1 billion in 2023. (Sina Finance)
At the forefront of AI
Baichuan Intelligent released the Baichuan 3, a large model of over 100 billion
36Kr learned that Baichuan Intelligence released Baichuan 3, a large language model with more than 100 billion parameters. In a number of authoritative general competency evaluations such as CMMLU, GAOKAO, and AGI-Eval, Baichuan 3 has demonstrated excellent capabilities. Baichuan 3 also breaks through the "iterative reinforcement learning" technology, which further improves the semantic understanding and generation ability, and performs well in the format, prosody, and ideographic aspects of poetry creation.
Italian regulators say OpenAI's ChatGPT violates privacy laws
Italy's privacy regulator said OpenAI's ChatGPT, as well as the technology used to collect user data, violated the country's privacy laws. The agency released its findings on Monday after launching an investigation in March last year. And OpenAI has been notified of the results. OpenAI has 30 days to respond, the agency said. (Finance Associated Press)
Zhongji InnoLight: It is expected that major AI customers will start purchasing and deploying 1.6T optical modules in the second half of the year at the earliest
36Kr learned that Zhongji InnoLight said on the institutional conference call that it is expected that AI major customers will start purchasing and deploying 1.6T optical modules in the second half of this year at the earliest. In addition, it is expected that in 2024, both 400G and 800G silicon photonic modules will have the opportunity to further increase the volume and expand the proportion of shipments. 1.6T silicon photonics is also a technology trend, which still has advantages in terms of cost, performance and power consumption.
IDC: China's investment in AI is expected to reach $38.1 billion by 2027
36Kr learned that IDC recently released the "IDC FutureScape: Global Artificial Intelligence and Automation Prediction - China Enlightenment". IDC predicts that by 2027, the global total investment in AI will reach US$423.6 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.9% between 2022 and 2027, and focusing on the Chinese market, China's investment in AI is expected to reach US$38.1 billion by 2027, accounting for nearly 9% of the global total investment.
Financial reports of large companies
Hengdian Film and Television: It is expected that the net profit in 2023 will be 135 million yuan to 180 million yuan, turning losses into profits year-on-year
36Kr learned that Hengdian Film and Television released a pre-profit announcement for its 2023 annual results, and the company expects to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of 135 million yuan to 180 million yuan in 2023, a year-on-year turnaround.
Semir Apparel: Net profit in 2023 is expected to increase by 66.41%-82.1% year-on-year
36Kr learned that Semir Apparel released a performance forecast, and it is expected that the net profit attributable to the parent company in 2023 will be 1.06 billion yuan - 1.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 66.41% - 82.1%.
Investment and financing
"Qingyun Energy" completed nearly 200 million yuan in Series B financing
36Kr learned that recently, "Qingyun Energy" completed nearly 200 million yuan in Series B financing, led by Zhongxing Capital. After the completion of this round of financing, Qingyun Energy will continue to consolidate its comprehensive energy development and service business, and actively expand the technology research and development, investment and operation of biomass energy stations and industrial energy conservation.
"Jiahe Technology" received nearly 100 million yuan in B+ round financing from Gaocheng Capital
36Kr learned that "Jiahe Technology" recently completed nearly 100 million yuan in B+ round of financing, led by Gaocheng Investment. This round of funding will be used to promote applications for agriculture and insurance customers, and continue to acquire customers through proven solutions.
"Alcohol and Hydrogen Technology" completed the first round of financing of 100 million US dollars
36Kr learned that "Alcohol and Hydrogen Technology", a subsidiary of Yuanyuan New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group, announced the completion of the first round of financing, introducing a number of strategic investors and investment institutions, with a financing amount of 100 million US dollars and a pre-investment valuation of 1 billion US dollars. This round of financing will be mainly used for continuous R&D investment and ecological construction of green methanol transportation capacity to further enhance the core competitiveness of the company.
"Fuyihang" completed nearly 100 million yuan of financing
36Kr learned that "Fuyihang" recently completed nearly 100 million yuan in financing, which was jointly led by Oriza Chongyuan and Su Gaoxin Financial Holdings. This round of financing will be mainly used to further promote the R&D and commercial application of Fuyihang's core technology, and promote the mass production and application of intelligent driving products. According to reports, the company is committed to the research and development of intelligent driving solutions.
Cool product
Gurman: The 2024 Apple iPad Pro and M3 MacBook Air are in production and will be released at the end of March
Technology journalist Mark Gurman revealed that the new iPad Pro and M3 MacBook Air have started production in Apple's supply chain and are expected to be officially released at the end of March this year. (Finance Associated Press)
Tesla's Cybertruck made its domestic debut
On January 28, Tesla's Cybertruck off-road station wagon toured Chinese mainland and made its debut in the country. This is the first overseas appearance of the Cybertruck after its delivery in the United States, and it is also an important layout of Tesla in the Chinese market. It is understood that eight Cybertrucks were unveiled in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Chongqing, and will last for several months. (National Business Daily)
New energy vehicles have been reduced in price again, should I buy them?
In 2024, the "price war" of the auto market has begun, has the price of your dream model been reduced? In the face of these large-scale discounts, should you be a waiting party, or choose "buy early and enjoy early"?
At 12 noon this Tuesday, the third issue of the hot live broadcast column "Do Something Big" in the live broadcast room of 36 Krypton Krypton. 36Kr Automobile's Editor-in-Chief Dialogue Zhou Xiongfei, Editor-in-Chief of Wired Travel, and Zhang Guoren, Editor-in-Chief of Che Dongxi, chatted together: Is it cost-effective to buy a car now? 👇
Organizing|郜梓萌
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