Recently, the semi-annual reports of listed electric bicycle companies have been released.
The data shows that the performance of enterprises is significantly differentiated. In the queue of traditional manufacturers, the performance of Yadea Holdings and Xinri shares declined significantly; Among the new power brands, the performance of Nine Company increased by 167.82% year-on-year.
Under the stock competition of stricter industry supervision and market saturation, how can leading manufacturers tell new stories when the tide of car replacement promoted by the "new national standard" is coming to an end?
Courtesy of Visual China
The performance of enterprises is clearly differentiated
On August 23, Yadea Holdings released its 2024 semi-annual report, with revenue of 14.414 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 15.4%; The attributable net profit was 1.034 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.9%. This is the first year-on-year decline in Yadea Holdings' semi-annual performance in the past five years. It is reported that in the first half of the year, the total sales of electric scooters and electric bicycles of Yadea Holdings were nearly 2 million less than last year, with a total of 8.21 million sold in the first half of last year and only about 6.38 million in the first half of this year.
Yadea said that the decline in performance was mainly due to macroeconomic uncertainty and short-term weakening of market demand, as well as the destocking cycle of distributors, which led to a decline in sales of electric two-wheelers.
In addition to Yadea, companies such as Emma, Nine and Mavericks have also released semi-annual reports. The comparison found that the performance of several leading enterprises was significantly differentiated.
According to Emma's semi-annual report, Emma's revenue in the first half of the year was 10.591 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.66%; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 951 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.24%. Although revenue and net profit have maintained growth momentum, the growth rate has slowed down significantly compared with the same period last year, and the revenue in the first quarter has declined.
The calves are mired in the "quagmire" of increasing income but not increasing profits. According to the financial report, in the second quarter, Maverick Electric achieved revenue of about 941 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%; The net loss was 24.9 million yuan, an increase of more than 10 times compared with the net loss of 1.9 million yuan in the same period last year.
Nine, a latecomer in the field of electric bicycles, delivered good growth results in the first half of the year. In the first half of the year, its revenue increased by 52.2% year-on-year to 6.666 billion yuan, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies increased by 167.82% year-on-year to 596 million yuan. According to the financial report data, in the first half of the year, Nine sold a total of 1.2 million electric two-wheelers, and there were more than 6,200 electric two-wheeled vehicle stores in China, covering more than 1,100 counties and cities.
The spring breeze power of the new "squeezed" e-bike track performed well. On August 15, Chunfeng Power released its financial report, with a total sales of 20,400 polar-core electric vehicles in the first half of the year, achieving sales revenue of 116 million yuan.
Courtesy of Visual China
Industry competition in the stock era has been upgraded
"Looking to the future, the electric bicycle industry is expected to maintain a high degree of prosperity." Pan Helin, a member of the Information and Communication Economy Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said. According to the data, the number of electric bicycles in mainland China reached 420 million. According to the analysis of research institutions, it is expected that from 2023 to 2028, the size of the mainland electric bicycle market will grow from US$17.2 billion to US$24.2 billion.
However, since 2023, the replacement tide of the new national standard has come to an end, and the sales volume of the domestic electric bicycle market has returned to the state of normal replacement and a small number of new additions. According to iResearch's report, the year-on-year growth of sales in the domestic electric bicycle market will slow down to 9.8% in 2023, and sales are expected to further shrink to 9.1% in 2024.
At the same time, the regulation of the electric bicycle industry has become stricter this year. Since May, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has successively issued the "Electric Bicycle Industry Standard Conditions", "Electric Bicycle Industry Standard Announcement Management Measures", "Electric Bicycle Lithium-ion Battery Safety Technical Specifications" (Lithium Battery New Regulations), and put forward higher quantifiable standards for the process equipment and product quality of electric bicycle enterprises, such as the original value of testing equipment is not less than 1 million yuan, the enterprise independently develops no less than 10 models per year, and the R & D expense rate is not less than 2%.
It is reported that only Yadea, Emma, Tailing, and Luyuan were selected in the first round of the first batch of enterprise whitelists that meet the conditions of industry norms, and they may be able to enjoy preferential treatment in the follow-up policies such as new national standard product review and trade-in subsidies.
Industry insiders believe that this year, a series of new regulations have been introduced to increase the pre-sales cost of electric bicycle manufacturers, raise the industry access threshold, will accelerate the probability of small and medium-sized factories eliminated, and the head enterprises can gain a larger market share in the survival of the fittest in the market. This means that the market competition may be more fierce among the leading enterprises.
"The industry has entered the era of low profits, and first-line brands should work technology research and development, create new quality productivity, and promote the high-quality development of the industry." An industry insider said that the mainland electric vehicle market has entered a stage of high-quality development, consumer demand has become diversified and "advanced", and the corresponding supply side, the competition between brands has also transitioned from the previous simple "volume price" to the high-dimensional competition between "product power".
How the leading manufacturers tell new stories
At the end of the tide of car replacement promoted by the "new national standard", the head companies of electric bicycles obviously need to find a new narrative angle.
The intelligence of electric bicycles is attracting more and more attention from consumers and is gradually becoming an important factor driving the growth of the replacement market.
On August 22, Nine Company released a variety of new two-wheeled electric vehicles in three series at one time, namely K series (magician), mechanic MMAX2 and E series. According to reports, these new products are mainly high-configuration, high-performance and intelligent. The relevant person in charge of No. 9 Company said that the industry is currently in the stage of transformation from traditional functional machines to intelligence, and this wave of intelligent replacement and upgrading demand has just begun, or will become a new increment in the future development of the industry.
Not only Nine Company, the entire electric bicycle industry is currently laying out intelligent and high-end products. iResearch also mentioned in the report that in 2023, the average level of intelligence of major brands of electric two-wheelers will increase by about 25.7% compared with 2022.
At the same time, Mavericks, Nine and other companies are also paying attention to the "she economy" track, hoping to attract more female users. Last year, No. 9 Electric released No. 9 Electric Small Q products that are more suitable for female users. In order to meet the needs of women, Maverick Electric has successively launched the facelifted U, Ms, B200, as well as the new Xiao O series and other products this year.
Some companies have turned their attention to "going overseas". Major leading manufacturers have made significant efforts in the international market, and in Viet Nam, Indonesia and other regions, Yadea Holdings and Emma Technology have set up factories, built production and research bases, opened flagship stores, and won strategic cooperation and other overseas strategies.
It is reported that Yadea Holdings said in its performance report in the first half of the year that it would "expand overseas markets and promote the 'Yadea' brand to the world." However, this goal of Yadea Holdings is still in its early stages. According to the performance report, more than 90% of the company's comprehensive revenue and operating profit come from China.
Emma Technology said in its semi-annual report that in terms of international channels, the company focused on promoting the expansion of agents in the Southeast Asian market and the localization of aftermarket services. During the reporting period, the international business revenue was 120 million yuan, an increase of 40.69% year-on-year.
Zhang Liya tidying up