Black Myth: Wukong officially announced sales of over 10 million
On the evening of August 23rd, the official Weibo account of "Black Myth: Wukong" announced that the sales of "Black Myth: Wukong" on all platforms exceeded 10 million sets, and the highest number of simultaneous online users on all platforms exceeded 3 million. The statistical data is as of 21:00 Beijing time on August 23, 2024. Feng Ji, founder of Game Science, also posted, "Soon, unexpectedly, high, and terrible~Although the road has just begun, it's worth taking a good rest tonight
Black Myth: Wukong "was launched on August 20th and sold over 10 million copies in just 4 days. It is also likely to have the highest player review rate of the year on the Steam platform, with over 270000 reviews and 96% positive reviews. This achievement undoubtedly rewrites the history of the industry and breaks through the records of many domestic single player games in the past.
Comment: As the first domestically produced 3A game, the significance of "Black Myth: Wukong" lies in the fact that 3A games (high-quality, high cost, high volume games) used to belong only to foreign companies, and to some extent represented a country's game production level. As one of the top two game market countries in the world and on par with the United States, there has never been a product that can truly be called a 3A game masterpiece. This is also why "Black Myth: Wukong" has attracted the attention, respect, and admiration of players and the industry. Goldman Sachs believes that "Black Myth: Wukong" is a major turning point for the Chinese console gaming industry and a crucial step for Chinese games to go global, which may stimulate investment in the Chinese gaming industry, especially 3A games.
Hon Hai Chairman's response: It is false that the yield rate of Indian made iPhones is only 50%
Previously, it was reported that Apple would assemble the high-end iPhone 16 series models, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, in India through its partners this year. Later, there were rumors that the yield rate of Indian made iPhones was only 50%, and Foxconn returned to Henan. Hon Hai is the parent company of Foxconn. According to the latest news on August 23rd, Foxconn Chairman Liu Yangwei responded by saying, "If the yield rate of Indian made iPhones was only 50%, I would have withdrawn long ago. If I didn't withdraw, customers would have told me to withdraw. Liu Yangwei said that the products made in India are no different from those made in Chinese Mainland, and many rumors about iPhone manufacturing are untrue.
Comment: Recently, there have been many market rumors surrounding Foxconn's assembly of iPhones in India, against the backdrop of Apple transferring some of its production capacity overseas. Liu Yangwei also said this time that Hon Hai had never left Henan, the company's largest factory in Chinese Mainland, where the number of Hon Hai employees reached more than 400000, and it was impossible for such a large factory to withdraw at once. In addition, in Henan, in addition to assembling mobile phone products such as Apple phones, Foxconn is also expanding into other businesses, including new energy vehicles and solid-state batteries.
Alibaba adds Hong Kong as its main listing location
On August 23rd, Alibaba Group announced that it will add Hong Kong as its main listing location and will primarily list on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on August 28th, becoming a company with dual main listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. The announcement also shows that Alibaba's dual primary listing in Hong Kong does not involve new stock issuance or financing.
Alibaba Group's Chief Financial Officer, Xu Hong, stated during this month's Alibaba earnings conference call that after the shareholder meeting passed the proposal, Alibaba expects to strive to complete the major listing conversion in Hong Kong by the end of August 2024. "As for how to access the Hong Kong Stock Connect in the future, we still need to follow some procedures under different rules of various exchanges, which should be done according to the procedures and can be achieved
Comment: This also means that Alibaba is getting closer to accessing the Hong Kong Stock Connect. If Alibaba connects to the Hong Kong Stock Connect, it will create more convenience for mainland investors to directly invest in Alibaba.
Alibaba is currently in a "secondary listing" status on the Hong Kong stock market. Morgan Stanley analyzed that if Alibaba completes its main listing before the end of August, it is expected that the inclusion in the Hong Kong Stock Connect will be confirmed on September 4th, announced on September 6th, and take effect when the market opens on September 9th.
Dong Mingzhu mentioned again that she may retire next year
On August 22, Dong Mingzhu, Chairman and President of Gree Electric Appliances, once again mentioned at the Henan Gree 2025 Marketing Summit that she may retire next year and revealed that Gree's channel transformation is basically in place in various provinces across the country. The former head of Gree's digital channel reform, Wang Ziroom, who was rumored to have resigned last week, did not appear. Dong Mingzhu said that Gree's channel reform still needs to be further improved. Dong Mingzhu said that there are many old friends among Gree's dealers in Henan, and many dealers have already handed over their business to the second generation to take over. I am also an elderly person. I am 70 years old and have not retired yet. You need to take over the baton well
Comment: After the mixed ownership reform of Gree Electric Appliances, Dong Mingzhu and Mingjun Investment, the current largest shareholder of Gree Electric Appliances, are concerted actors. Therefore, even if Dong Mingzhu retires next year, she will still have a say in important decisions of Gree Electric Appliances. Moreover, Gree Electric is currently in a critical period of diversified business expansion and channel transformation, and Dong Mingzhu's retirement next year is just one possibility. Dong Mingzhu's implied meaning is actually a reminder to the beneficiaries of Gree's old sales model to know how to advance and retreat.
NetEase Cloud Music has crashed
On August 19th, "NetEase Cloud Music Crashed" topped the hot search list. Many netizens have reported that the music page of NetEase Cloud has encountered a "server error", with abnormalities in music playback, loading, and other processes. The malfunction lasted for nearly two hours, and around 5pm, NetEase Cloud's online music playback resumed normal. Hello everyone, there was no deletion of the library or running away. The fault has been fixed gradually. As compensation, from 0-24 on August 20th, Cloud Music Souchang listened to music and can receive 7 days of membership benefits to your account (please refer to the activity page for specific rules). Sorry to say it again, please calm down. "NetEase Cloud Music replied after the fault was fixed.
Comment: NetEase Cloud Music stated that the cause of this malfunction is not related to the data center, and that the inability to use all ends of NetEase Cloud Music is due to infrastructure failure. Recently, various apps have experienced alternating failures, testing the platform's infrastructure, technical capabilities, and repair speed. At the same time, how to do a good job in user operation has also received attention.
Meituan's organizational structure has been readjusted
On August 23rd, First Financial News learned that Meituan CEO Wang Xing announced in an internal email that "the company's organization will continue to iterate" and announced new progress in organizational restructuring. According to the email, Meituan's SaaS, cycling, power bank and other businesses have been merged into "software and hardware services", which will be managed by Zhang Chuan; Fast Donkey, Xiaoxiang, Youxuan and other businesses will be merged into "Food and Miscellaneous Retail", under the responsibility of Guo Wanhuai; The overseas business has been officially renamed as Keeta, under the responsibility of Qiu Guangyu; Other unchanged. This organizational iteration is a continuation of Meituan's business integration since the beginning of this year.
Comment: Currently, in the local lifestyle field, Meituan's competitors are increasing. In this regard, Zhang Yi, CEO of iMedia Consulting, told First Finance that in the past, Meituan's business was similar to that of other Internet companies, and it was to develop an incremental market. But now it has become a stock market. Meituan is facing the iteration of new products and formats. New consumption habits and entertainment habits are forming. For example, Tiktok, Xiaohongshu, Kwai, etc. have had an impact on the consumption habits of the original local life. At present, Tiktok is the biggest threat and challenge, especially in the field of group purchase and takeout.
Bilibili CEO Chen Rui: Gaming is no longer an industry that earns quick money
On August 22nd, Bilibili released its unaudited financial report for the second quarter. In the second quarter, the total revenue of Bilibili was 6.13 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16%, mainly driven by advertising and gaming; The net loss of Bilibili in the second quarter was 608 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 61%. In the second quarter, Bilibili's gaming revenue increased by 13% year-on-year to 1.01 billion yuan. In the first half of the year, Bilibili successfully launched its first SLG strategy game, "San Mou", which remained in the top ten of the list for a consecutive month.
During the conference call, Chen Rui, Chairman and CEO of Bilibili, mentioned that many people have asked why Bilibili was able to make "Sanmou". "I think it's a result of the rejuvenation of the game category that we have been working on for the past two years," he said. The internal goal of the "Sanmou" publishing team is to make it a high-quality game that can continue to operate for more than 5 years. "We must realize that the gaming industry is no longer a fast money making industry, it must be an industry that values long-term optimization of operations and user experience. At least we strive to be the company in the industry that listens to players' advice and respects players the most
Comment: Dolphin Investment Research believes that although the ranking of "San Mou" fluctuates, it ranks among the top and will still have a significant impact on the growth of revenue scale such as Bilibili. In the next three quarters, with high advertising investment in the game "Three Kingdoms: Conquering the World" ("Sanmu") and the summer game battle, Bilibili is expected to turn losses into profits.
Sharp shuts down its 10th generation LCD panel production line in Japan
On August 21st, Sharp shut down its last large LCD panel factory in Japan, discontinuing its 10th generation LCD panel production line, which was one of the earliest in the industry. Sharp Japan's 10th generation production line was once spun off from Sharp's listed company due to losses, and has been reinstated into a listed company in recent years. However, due to the inability to escape the predicament of losses and drag down Sharp's overall performance, it was ultimately shut down.
Comment: The leader in the LCD panel industry has shifted from Japan to South Korea, and then from South Korea to China. With the closure of Sharp's 10 generation LCD panel production line in Japan and the sale of LGD's 8.5 generation LCD panel production line in Guangzhou, the research institute predicts that in 2025, the proportion of Chinese Mainland enterprises in global LCD TV panel shipments will again exceed 70%.
TCL Electronics and Hisense Video show differences in performance growth rates in the first half of the year
On the evening of August 23rd, China's two leading color TV companies released their semi annual reports. In the first half of 2024, TCL Electronics achieved a revenue of HKD 45.494 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30.3%, and a net profit attributable to the parent company of HKD 653 million, a year-on-year increase of 106.6%; Hisense Video achieved a revenue of RMB 25.461 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.36%, and a net profit attributable to the parent company of RMB 834 million, a year-on-year decrease of 19.56%.
Comment: From the perspective of the global TV market in the first half of the year, the domestic TV market declined while the overseas TV market grew. Upgrading domestic TV business products and expanding overseas TV business sales are the common strategies of these two major TV companies in the first half of the year. In this situation, TCL Electronics has strengthened its dual brand strategy this year, with its sub brand Thunderbird launching cost-effective products, resulting in faster domestic sales growth. Coupled with the rapid growth of its photovoltaic business, TCL Electronics' revenue growth has been even higher. In terms of profit, Hisense Video's profit is affected by the increase in panel prices and international shipping costs, while TCL Electronics has strengthened its collaboration with TCL Huaxing in panel resources and improved operational efficiency. However, Hisense Video's net profit attributable to shareholders is still higher than TCL Electronics.
Weibo's Golden Orange V author's income increased by 55% in the first half of the year
Weibo announced on the V Influence Summit forum that as of June, the advertising revenue of Weibo's micro task platform reached 880 million yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 22%. Among them, the author revenue of Golden Orange V was 650 million yuan, an increase of 55%, and the revenue of Golden V was 430 million yuan, an increase of 59%. Weibo expects that by the end of 2024, the proportion of Golden Orange V's revenue to the advertising revenue of the micro task Weibo platform will increase to 85%, and the proportion of Golden V will reach 55%. Weibo will promote the concentration of revenue capacity towards Golden V authors.
In the first half of the year, gaming, automobiles, mobile phones, healthcare, and food and beverage were the top 5 industries for Weibo advertising growth.
Comment: A noteworthy phenomenon is that under the competitive pressure of Xiaohongshu, Tiktok and other platforms, the commercialization solution of microblog is further concentrated in the vertical field and "big V marketing" to form the difference of microblog in the customer buying market. Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei stated that Weibo's main marketing service model has shifted from brand+effect marketing services to a marketing service model driven by hot IP/celebrity KOL/effect advertising. These three types of products directly generate advertising revenue that accounts for over 50% of the overall advertising revenue.
Venture capital trendsetter
According to data from Qichacha, there were a total of 2 financing events in the artificial intelligence field this week (8.17-8.23), a decrease of 2 investment and financing events compared to last week (8.10-8.16). Among them, Qianxun Location, a spatiotemporal intelligent infrastructure company, completed a Series B financing with the participation of Beijing Guoguan, Beijing Dongcheng State owned Assets, Jili Venture Capital, and Zhonghe Yuanliang. Robot company Jitai Intelligence has completed a 60 million RMB A+round financing with the participation of investment controller Donghai.
There have been a total of 5 financing events in the semiconductor industry, a decrease of 16 compared to last week. Among them, chip design company Shanghai Lichang completed a 200 million yuan equity financing, semiconductor device manufacturer Weiqing Semiconductor completed an angel round financing, semiconductor material manufacturer Deyi Semiconductor completed an A round financing, and fabless semiconductor R&D and production company Sutong Semiconductor completed an A+round financing.
There were three financing events in the biopharmaceutical field, an increase of two from last week's investment and financing volume. Drug developer Renjing Biotechnology has completed its Pre-A+round of financing. Insea, which focuses on providing comprehensive solutions from upstream and downstream processes to laboratory analysis for biopharmaceutical CMC, has completed a B+round financing with the participation of China Merchants Capital. Meanwhile, Tongyuan Kangyao, a biopharmaceutical high-tech company engaged in the research and development of anti-tumor small molecule Best in class/First in class new drugs, has completed an IPO round financing of approximately HKD 510 million.