Nvidia's sales nearly double, growth rate expected to slow down
After the market closed on November 20th local time, Nvidia announced its third quarter financial report. In the third quarter, Nvidia's sales were approximately $37.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 94%. This is mainly due to the company's data center business. The revenue of Nvidia's data center division in the third quarter was $30.8 billion, an increase of 112% compared to the same period last year. The company predicts a further year-on-year growth of about 70% in the fourth quarter, lower than the annual growth rate of 265% in the same period last year.
Nvidia CFO Colette Kress stated in a conference call with analysts that 13000 Blackwell chip samples have been sent to customers. Nvidia founder and CEO Huang Renxun also stated in a statement that Blackwell has been fully put into production.
Comment: "The era of artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, driving the transformation of global computing," Huang Renxun said in the financial report. Analysts believe that despite the soaring demand for Nvidia chips in the market, the supply chain may become a bottleneck for Nvidia to achieve significant revenue growth, such as the limited advanced manufacturing technology capacity of its chip manufacturing partner TSMC.
Apple reveals for the first time the income situation of Chinese developers
On the morning of November 19th, Apple released a rare report on the revenue of Chinese developers and app ecosystems on its official website, and indirectly responded to the collection of the "Apple Tax" by citing a research report on the analysis of the Apple ecosystem by domestic university professors. In the above report, Associate Professor Ju Heng from the School of Business at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics stated that the income of Chinese developers has nearly doubled since 2018, and most of them do not need to pay any commission to Apple. In 2023, over half of the developers who pay commissions will enjoy a 15% discount commission rate, and it is emphasized that the effective commission rate charged by the Chinese App Store is lower than the 30% cap commission rate applicable to large developers.
Comment: Since the beginning of this year, the controversy caused by the "Apple Tax" has never stopped from the European Union to the US market. In the Chinese market, the game between Apple and domestic technology companies over commission deductions for the "Apple Tax" is still ongoing. Previously, Apple had put pressure on enterprises, including Tencent and ByteDance, to deal with external payment loopholes in their respective applications to avoid leading users to external payment systems. In the industry's view, Apple seems to be hoping to use this report to demonstrate that it has not charged high fees to small and medium-sized developers in China. However, this report does not address the issue of Apple's App Store adopting different commission rates and treating third-party payments differently in the Chinese market and the European and American markets.
SpaceX's first generation starship comes to an end
On November 20th Beijing time, SpaceX's heavy carrier rocket "Starship" completed its sixth test flight, and the 47th US President elect Trump also watched the launch on site. According to the on-site launch situation, the first stage booster of the starship splashed into the Gulf of Mexico. During the launch, the team abandoned the "chopstick pick rocket" recovery method and did not retrieve it from the launch tower as planned. At the same time, the second class starship successfully started the "Raptor" engine in space for the first time. It is understood that this launch is also the last test flight of the first generation Starship (V1 version).
Comment: Since its first launch in April 2023, the starship has launched a total of 6 times within 20 months. During the fifth test flight, SpaceX achieved a breakthrough in the "chopstick pick rocket" for the first time. The continuous compression of rocket launch costs means, on the one hand, that the efficiency of human satellite launches will be further improved, and on the other hand, it also means that in the near future, competition for international spectrum resources will intensify. Therefore, domestic commercial aerospace companies should increase their R&D investment and achieve mature application of recyclable rocket technology as soon as possible through technological innovation.
Alibaba establishes e-commerce business group, with Wu Yongming appointing Jiang Fan as the head
On November 21st, Alibaba Group CEO Wu Yongming released a staff email announcing the establishment of the Alibaba E-commerce Business Group, appointing Jiang Fan to report to Wu Yongming. According to the full staff information, the new e-commerce business group will comprehensively integrate Taobao Tmall Group, International Digital Business Group, as well as e-commerce businesses such as 1688 and Xianyu, forming a business cluster covering the entire industry chain at home and abroad.
Comment: This is another organizational restructuring of Alibaba's e-commerce business after Double 11. Behind the adjustment, how to revitalize the core business of e-commerce is a key proposition for Alibaba. Alibaba is attempting to integrate domestic and international e-commerce resources to form a joint force in facing competition in the e-commerce field. The establishment of Alibaba's e-commerce business group marks the first time that Alibaba has entrusted domestic and international e-commerce business to the same person, which is actually a manifestation of Alibaba's urgent "return to efficiency" in the fierce competition of the e-commerce market.
Hisense Home Appliances "changes its leadership", with Gao Yuling replacing Dai Huizhong as chairman
On the evening of November 21st, Hisense Home Appliances announced that its chairman, Dai Huizhong, will no longer serve as the chairman, ESG committee chairman, strategic committee chairman, and member of Hisense Home Appliances due to reaching retirement age; After resigning, Dai Huizhong continued to serve as a director, nomination committee member, and ESG committee member of Hisense Home Appliances. At the same time, the board of directors of Hisense Home Appliances elected Gao Yuling as the new chairman of the company. Gao Yuling was originally the financial director and chief accountant of Hisense Home Appliances. Sun Changchun takes over from Gao Yuling as the financial manager of Hisense Home Appliances.
Comment: 42 year old Gao Yuling has taken over as the new chairman of Hisense Home Appliances from 58 year old Dai Huizhong, marking a transition in the senior management of Hisense Home Appliances. As a white goods listed company platform under Hisense Group, Hisense Home Appliances has achieved steady growth in performance in recent years. How to lead Hisense Home Appliances to further strengthen and promote internationalization, especially to achieve the goal of annual revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan, is the heavy responsibility on Gao Yuling's shoulders. Dai Huizhong told First Financial reporters on November 22 that the transition between old and new is a natural law, and young people have more vitality and momentum. This adjustment is beneficial for the long-term development of the company.
Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court declares Rouyu bankrupt
On November 18th, the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province (referred to as the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court) announced the bankruptcy of Shenzhen Rouyu Display Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as Rouyu Display). According to the announcement, on May 15, 2024, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court ruled to accept the bankruptcy liquidation case of Rouyu Display. Based on the investigation results of the manager on the existing assets and liabilities of Rouyu, it can be determined that Rouyu is unable to repay its due debts and its assets are insufficient to repay all debts. According to Article 2 (1) and Article 107 of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the People's Republic of China, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court declared Rouyu Display bankrupt on November 18, 2024.
Comment: Once a unicorn in the flexible display panel industry with a valuation of 40 billion yuan, the fate of Rouyu Display ultimately escaping bankruptcy and liquidation is regrettable. Employees of Rouyu Display told First Financial reporters that it is expected that the assets of Rouyu Display will be auctioned and liquidated. As the vast majority of Rouyu Display's assets have already been mortgaged to banks, after the auction of Rouyu Display's mortgaged assets, it is expected to prioritize the repayment of bankruptcy expenses, construction contractor claims, and mortgage claims. The repayment of employee claims may be ranked after mortgage claims. The employees of Rouyu are concerned that the asset value displayed by Rouyu may not be sufficient to repay the amount of the mortgage creditor's claim, and the employee's claim may not be paid. They hope to prioritize the protection of the employee's claim.
Black Myth: Wukong "nominated for TGA Game of the Year
On November 19th, the 2024 Game Awards (TGA) announced the nominations for various awards through its official Weibo account. The first 3A game in China, "Black Myth: Wukong," was nominated for four awards, including Game of the Year, Best Game Director, Best Action Game, and Best Art Director.
Comment: As of November 19th, the latest data from foreign data analysis company VG Insights shows that the sales of "Black Myth: Wukong" on the Steam platform have increased to 22.1 million copies, and the total revenue of the game has exceeded 1.1 billion US dollars (about 7.96 billion RMB). In the past 24 hours, the highest number of online players in the game was 78000.
Mobile phone manufacturers join hands with big model manufacturers
On November 21st, Nubia announced that it will be equipped with Nebula AIOS on the Z70 Ultra. In this system, users can use voice commands to achieve voice interaction in various scenarios, such as booking tickets, stock tracking, searching for pictures, posting articles on Xiaohongshu, navigation, etc. Technologically, China Telecom provides the mobile phone manufacturer with support for a 3 billion parameter end-to-end star model and a 100 billion parameter cloud side model, and the Volcano Engine has also joined the cooperative team.
Comment: AI native applications built on generative AI will be the key to stimulating the growth of AI smartphones in the future. Currently, almost all domestic manufacturers have released their own large models and operating systems, and introduced large model manufacturers to cooperate with terminals and the cloud. However, for existing mobile phone manufacturers, the biggest challenge at present is whether they can form new services and solutions through AI cooperation with other manufacturers, and whether the business model can run smoothly.
Shanghai has initially built a self controlled transportation "blockchain" infrastructure
On November 22nd, the "Digital Chain Valley" scenario market focusing on the theme of "blockchain+transportation" was held in Shanghai. At the meeting, it was announced that Shanghai has initially built a high-performance and independently controllable transportation blockchain infrastructure, and has promoted a group of chain owners to take the lead in using the "Pujiang Data Chain" as a data highway.
As the only new energy vehicle data platform in Shanghai, the Shanghai New Energy Vehicle Public Data Collection and Monitoring Research Center has access to 1.5 million vehicles, over 160 car companies, and 2400 vehicle models, with an average of 1.6 billion data points collected daily. The center has launched the new energy vehicle data trusted storage service "Shanghai Driving Treasure" based on the "Pujiang Data Chain", and launched a traffic accident data exploration service, which has increased the speed of accident data acquisition to the "minute" level.
Comment: The application prospects of blockchain technology in the transportation industry are broad, and transportation is one of the important application scenarios of blockchain technology. With the gradual popularization of new energy vehicles and intelligent driving technology, vehicle driving data is playing an increasingly important role in transportation scenarios. Blockchain technology can ensure the security of intelligent driving data, make new energy vehicle data more authentic and transparent, and also enable on chain tracking of assets, maintenance, operation and other data information involved in road traffic.
Venture capital trendsetter
According to data from Qichacha, there were a total of 4 financing events in the biopharmaceutical industry this week (11.16-11.22), an increase of 3 events compared to last week (11.9-11.15). Among them, Shenzhen Borui Jian Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. completed tens of millions of RMB A+round financing with participation from Qidi Star, Tongchuang Weiye, and Zhongke Chuangxing.
There were a total of 9 financing events in the semiconductor industry, an increase of 3 from last week. Among them, Beijing Yunhan Xingchi Laser Technology Co., Ltd. completed the angel round financing participated by Huairou Investment, and Shenzhen Jieyang Microelectronics Co., Ltd. completed the B-round financing participated by Yida Capital.
There were a total of 2 financing events in the manufacturing industry, an increase of 2 compared to last week. Aerospace Era Feipeng Co., Ltd. has completed a Pre-B round financing of hundreds of millions of RMB with participation from Guofa Venture Capital, Guyu Capital, Kunpeng Capital, and Suzhou Guotou. Shenzhen Geyuan Technology Co., Ltd. has completed a B-round financing with participation from UP Partners.
There have been no financing events in the field of artificial intelligence, with a decrease of 6 cases compared to last week.