8:01 AM | "Three Goats" Denies Rumors of Younger Brother Yang's Comeback Livestream; Yu Donglai Responds to Sam's Entry into Henan; ZTE Responds to Lenovo's Patent Lawsuit
TOP3 Big News
"Three Sheep" Denies Rumors of Younger Brother Yang's Return to Live Broadcasting
Recently, some Three Sheep slicing accounts have updated short videos of Younger Brother Yang's live broadcasts. Under these videos, search terms such as "Younger Brother Yang's Live Broadcast Replay on the 27th" have appeared. At the same time, several Douyin accounts claimed that Younger Brother Yang resumed live broadcasting on October 27. On that day, Younger Brother Yang, Elder Brother Yang, and the anchors under Three Sheep made a collective return. At the beginning of the live broadcast, the number of viewers was relatively small, but within less than an hour, the number of online viewers exceeded 100,000. Regarding this rumor, the relevant person in charge of Three Sheep responded to the Beijing Business Daily reporter, stating that it is not true and there was no live broadcast on October 27. At the same time, Crazy Younger Brother Yang and the customer service of Three Sheep Network also stated that they have not received specific notifications about the anchor scheduling.
It is understood that on September 26, according to the notification of the Hefei Market Supervision Bureau, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Administrative Punishment Law" and the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law," the Hefei Joint Investigation Team intends to decide to confiscate the illegal income of the Three Sheep Company and impose a fine totaling 68.9491 million yuan. Regarding the issues related to false commercial publicity in the live-streaming and goods-selling of the Three Sheep Company, it is ordered to suspend operations for a limited period for rectification and to bear the relevant legal responsibilities. On the same day, Three Sheep issued a statement saying that it apologizes for the problem of false publicity that misled consumers in the recent live broadcasts. The company will fully accept the investigation and handling opinions and punishment results of the joint investigation team and is willing to bear the relevant legal responsibilities. Subsequently, Douyin announced the suspension of the accounts under "Three Sheep". (Beijing Business Daily)
Yu Donglai Responds to Sam's Entry into Henan
Recently, since the first Sam's Club in Henan was officially announced to be located in Zhengzhou, there have been continuous discussions on the Internet about Sam and Pangdonglai, and many people have begun to compare the models and products of the two. On October 30, Yu Donglai, the founder of Pangdonglai, posted a response to Sam's entry into Henan, stating that Pangdonglai will only feel happy for having such an excellent enterprise and will never have a positive competition with any enterprise that has good quality, is good for customers, is good for employees, and is good for society. Yu Donglai has said many times in his speeches that Pangdonglai takes the world's excellent enterprises such as Sam and Costco as examples, and the goal is to surpass them in terms of goods, cost performance, and quality. (Blue Whale News)
ZTE Responds to Lenovo's Patent Lawsuit
ZTE responded early on the morning of October 30 to Lenovo's lawsuit accusing it of patent infringement in the UK. ZTE said that it recently learned that Lenovo filed an intellectual property lawsuit in the High Court of England, and it regrets this. The two sides have been negotiating on the issue of patent licensing for several years. ZTE has always been in good faith, pursuing a reasonable return, and based on its trust in Lenovo as a Chinese company, it has always been prudent and restrained in taking rights protection measures other than negotiation. Although it is difficult to understand Lenovo's lawsuit in the UK, ZTE expresses its respect, while emphasizing that this will not change ZTE's determination to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
As a global leading provider of comprehensive information and communication technology solutions, ZTE holds a large number of patents, and its declaration of 5G standard essential patents remains firmly in the top five globally. ZTE respects the value of intellectual property rights, insists on promoting a reasonable, fair, and equitable patent licensing system, and realizes a positive cycle of technological innovation through reasonable returns. (Ifeng Technology)
Big Companies/Big Events
XPeng HT Aero's "Land Aircraft Carrier" Detachable Flying Car Will Make Its Global Debut Flight on November 12
36Kr has learned that according to XPeng HT Aero, XPeng HT Aero's "Land Aircraft Carrier" detachable flying car is about to make an appearance at the 2024 China Airshow. On November 12, it will conduct its world's first public flight in the second exhibition area of the China Airshow (Lianzhou, Doumen); meanwhile, the "Land Aircraft Carrier" will also be on static display at Hall 8 of the Zhuhai International Airshow Center.
JD App Has Enabled Alipay Payment
36Kr has learned that the JD App has enabled Alipay payment. Currently, some users can already see the Alipay option when checking out, and they can also use tools such as Yu'E Bao.
Shanghai Will Experience the Heaviest Rainfall in November Since 1981
Affected by the peripheral circulation of Typhoon Kong-rey and the cold air, from the evening of October 31 to November 1, Shanghai will have a heavy rainstorm. The rainfall process is expected to be 120 - 180 millimeters, and it can reach 220 - 280 millimeters in the southeast. The maximum hourly rainfall intensity is 40 - 70 millimeters. The precipitation is extreme and may become the heaviest precipitation process in November since 1981. During the typhoon's influence, the temperature in Shanghai will drop on October 31 and November 1, with the maximum temperature only 20°C. The weather will recover on November 3. (021 Video)
Nezha Automobile Officially Launches Company-wide Equity Incentive Plan
36Kr learned that on October 29, Nezha Automobile officially launched a company-wide equity incentive plan. It will set aside 5% of its shares (with an estimated value of approximately 2 billion yuan) as equity incentives to be distributed to all employees. At the same time, a new plan for wages and performance appraisals has been internally announced. This incentive and salary adjustment plan is part of the goal to achieve a positive operating cash flow for the company as soon as possible. Next, Nezha Automobile will also implement a series of measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency, such as organizational streamlining, eliminating redundant staff, business focus, and flat management.
Li Xiang Auto Establishes First-level Department for Overseas Expansion
36Kr exclusively learned that Li Xiang Auto has established a first-level department for overseas expansion. The new person in charge of Li Xiang Auto's overseas expansion is Wang Jin, who reports to Zou Liangjun, Senior Vice President of Sales and Services of Li Xiang Auto. In addition to the Middle East, Latin American countries have also become a new option for Li Xiang Auto's overseas expansion. Li Xiang Auto once stated that it insists on the direct sales model overseas, but the progress has not been smooth. Currently, Li Xiang Auto's overseas expansion strategy is to recruit local distributors.
On October 30, the retail price of pure gold jewelry exceeded 820 yuan per gram
It is learned from gold and jewelry brands such as Chow Tai Fook, Luk Fook Jewellery, CHJ JEWELLERY, and TSL Jewellery that on October 30, the retail price of pure gold jewelry announced by many brands in the domestic market has exceeded the 820 yuan per gram mark, with the higher one reaching 826 yuan per gram, setting a new record. (Shanghai Securities News)
Xiaomi Cars Sold for 800,000 Yuan, Lei Jun: Don't Worship BBA, Domestic Brands Are Rising Comprehensive
36Kr learned that on October 30, some netizens made a ranking list of the prices of new luxury car models in the Chinese market. Luxury car models such as the Yangwang U8 priced at 1,098,000 yuan, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra priced at 814,900 yuan, and the NIO ET9 priced at 800,000 yuan were all on the list, and they said, "If you don't work hard, you can only drive BBA." In response, Lei Jun forwarded the relevant news and said, "BBA does have many aspects that our domestic manufacturers can learn from, but we should not blindly worship BBA. Domestic brands are rising comprehensively. Someone asked me, has Xiaomi's products been sold for more than 800,000 yuan? My answer is that what I really care about is whether our products are good enough, worth the price, and exceed expectations."
Power bank manufacturer Anker enters the field of embodied robots
An informed source close to Anker Innovation confirmed that Anker Innovation has established an embodied robot team, which is led by Liu Fang, the former person in charge of the mass production of intelligent driving at Xiaomi. Liu Fang reports directly to Zhu Fanghao, Vice President of Anker Innovation and President of Zhixin Technology. Anker Innovation is posting related positions such as ontology engineers, Unity engineers, embodied intelligence algorithm engineers, and robot product managers in the robot direction on the recruitment platform. This means that this company, which started with businesses such as power banks and data cables, is already reserving talents for the embodied robot business. (Jiemian News)
Suzuki and Toyota will deepen their cooperation in the field of electric vehicles
Suzuki Motor and Toyota Motor announced on October 30 that they have decided to further strengthen their cooperation. Suzuki will supply Toyota with a pure electric SUV vehicle developed by Suzuki. This new model is planned to be produced at Suzuki's automobile factory in Gujarat, India, starting from the spring of 2025. (Jiemian News)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower collectively, and most popular Chinese concept stocks declined.
36Kr learned that as of the close on October 30, the three major U.S. stock indexes collectively declined. The Nasdaq fell by 0.56%, the S&P 500 index fell by 0.33%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.22%. Most large technology stocks declined. Intel fell by more than 2%, Apple and NVIDIA fell by more than 1%, and Tesla, Netflix, and Meta declined slightly; Google rose by more than 2%, Amazon rose by 1%, and Microsoft strengthened slightly. Most popular Chinese concept stocks declined. NIO fell by more than 4%, Pinduoduo fell by more than 3%, JD.com and XPeng Motors fell by more than 2%, Tencent Music, Weibo, and Alibaba fell by more than 1%; MINISO rose by more than 4%, Li Auto and Bilibili rose by more than 1%.
Apple is using an Indian factory for the development of iPhone 17
According to two people with direct knowledge of the situation, Apple will use an Indian factory for the first time to complete the initial manufacturing work of the basic model of next year's iPhone 17. (Sina Finance)
The North Face has been selected as the "Best Outdoor Brand of the Year" by Time Magazine
36Kr learned that recently, Time Magazine and the comprehensive data platform Statista jointly released the "2024 Global Best Brands", and The North Face has been selected as the "Best Outdoor Brand of the Year". It is understood that the first UE (Urban Exploration) boutique of The North Face in the Asia-Pacific region has opened in Taikoo Hui, Guangzhou. At the same time, The North Face stores at different levels are gradually being optimized nationwide, and subsequently, stores with different levels and diverse themes will be updated one after another.
It is reported that Samsung will introduce the High-NA EUV lithography machine from ASML in early 2025
According to ET News, sources said that Samsung Electronics will introduce the first High-NA EUV lithography machine EXE:5000 from ASML, and it is expected to arrive in early 2025. The installation of semiconductor equipment usually requires a long testing time, and this lithography machine is expected to start operating as soon as mid-2025. High-NA EUV is the equipment required for advanced processes below 2 nanometers. The South Korean industry expects that Samsung will also officially launch the commercialization process of 1-nanometer chips. (Cailian Press)
Shinsegae Group of South Korea Announces Splitting of Its Supermarket and Department Store Businesses
On October 30, Shinsegae Group of South Korea announced that its large supermarket E-Mart and Shinsegae Department Store businesses will be fully split, with the two major businesses "establishing their own separate entities". In the personnel transfer carried out by the group on the same day, Jung Yu-kyung, the CEO of Shinsegae Holdings, was promoted to chairman and will be in charge of the department store business. This is the first time that Jung Yu-kyung has been promoted to chairman after serving as the CEO since December 2015, after a gap of 9 years. (Jiemian News)
US payment giant Visa is reportedly planning to lay off about 1,400 regular and contract workers
According to sources, insiders revealed that as part of a plan to streamline its international business, Visa plans to lay off approximately 1,400 employees and contract workers by the end of this year. They said that about 1,000 technical positions will be cut, and most of the remaining positions will be concentrated in sales and global digital partnership positions. Visa has more than 30,000 employees worldwide, and some of the layoffs will be concentrated on contract workers in the engineering team. It is not yet clear how many of the affected employees are non-employees. A Visa spokesperson said that the company is constantly evolving to better serve customers and support growth, "This may result in the elimination of some positions." He said that in the foreseeable future, the company expects to hire more employees each year. (Jiemian News)
Three US Governors Jointly Urge Boeing to End Strike
On the 29th, the Republican governors of three US states, Utah, Missouri, and Montana, jointly sent a letter to Boeing and the union that organized the strike by Boeing employees, stating that the nearly 7-week strike by 33,000 Boeing mechanics has impacted multiple suppliers and affected the economies and employment in the three states. They called on both sides to reach an agreement as soon as possible to end the strike. (Cailian Press)
Netflix's Public Policy Executive and Chief Communications Officer to Depart
Netflix said on October 29 that Dean Garfield, Vice President of Global Public Policy, and Rachel Whetstone, Chief Communications Officer, will be leaving. A source familiar with the matter said that the candidates for the new positions have not yet been determined. Additionally, Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of the streaming platform, is looking for candidates for a newly created position - Chief Global Affairs Officer - to oversee public policy and communication. (Sina Finance)
The Forefront of AI
OpenAI Is Reportedly Planning to Join Forces with Broadcom and TSMC to Build Its Own Chips
According to sources, OpenAI is collaborating with Broadcom and TSMC to manufacture its first in-house chip to support its artificial intelligence system. At the same time, AMD chips will be added on top of NVIDIA chips to meet its surging infrastructure needs. OpenAI has explored a series of options to diversify chip supply and reduce costs. OpenAI considered manufacturing in-house and also considered raising funds for an expensive plan to establish a network of chip manufacturing factories called a "foundry". Due to the cost and time required to build the network, the company has temporarily abandoned the ambitious foundry plan and instead plans to focus on in-house chip design work. (Jiemian News)
NVIDIA Ethernet Acceleration Builds the World's Largest AI Supercomputer for xAI
36Kr has learned that NVIDIA announced that xAI's Colossus supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, has reached a massive scale of 100,000 NVIDIA® Hopper GPUs. This cluster uses the NVIDIA Spectrum-X™ Ethernet network platform, which is an RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access) network designed to provide exceptional performance for multi-tenant, hyperscale AI factories. Colossus is the world's largest AI supercomputer and is currently being used to train xAI's Grok series of large language models and as a chatbot (Chatbot) as one of the X Premium user features.
Big Company Financial Reports
BYD's Quarterly Revenue Surpasses Tesla's for the First Time
On the evening of October 30, BYD released its third-quarter results for 2024. In the first three quarters, the company achieved an operating income of 502.25 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 18.9%, and a net profit of 25.24 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 18.1%.
Looking only at the third-quarter results, BYD has surpassed Tesla in terms of revenue. In the third quarter of 2024, BYD achieved a revenue of 201.125 billion yuan, while Tesla's third-quarter revenue is approximately 180 billion yuan after conversion. This means that BYD has reached another "milestone" in the development of electric vehicles. (Securities Times)
Luckin Coffee: Total net revenue in the third quarter was 10.18 billion yuan, an increase of 41.4% year-on-year.
36Kr learned that Luckin Coffee released its third-quarter financial report. The financial report shows that the total net revenue in the third quarter was 10.18 billion yuan, an increase of 41.4% compared with the same period last year; the net profit was 1.30 billion yuan, an increase of 32% year-on-year; the adjusted net earnings per ADS was 4.40 yuan.
Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway: Net profit in the first three quarters is 10.015 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 12.35%
36Kr learned that the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway released its third-quarter financial report. The financial report shows that the operating income in the first three quarters was 32.355 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 4.77%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 10.015 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 12.35%. The operating income in the third quarter was 11.493 billion yuan, with a year-on-year decrease of 0.94%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 3.658 billion yuan, with a year-on-year decrease of 3.17%.
MediaTek's operating profit in the third quarter was NT$23.86 billion
MediaTek's operating profit in the third quarter was NT$23.86 billion, with an estimated NT$23.02 billion; the net profit in the third quarter was NT$25.59 billion, with an estimated NT$22.95 billion. (Cailian Press)
Bank of China: Net profit of 57.16 billion yuan in the third quarter, with a year-on-year growth of 4.38%
36Kr learned that Bank of China released its third-quarter financial report. The financial report shows that Bank of China's operating income in the third quarter was 161.176 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 6.58%; the net profit in the third quarter was 57.16 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 4.38%. In the first three quarters, the group achieved an after-tax profit of 187.489 billion yuan, and the after-tax profit attributable to shareholders of the bank was 175.763 billion yuan, with year-on-year growths of 0.53% and 0.52% respectively. The return on average total assets (ROA) is 0.75%, and the return on equity (ROE) is 9.55%. The core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio 2 is 12.23%, the Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio 2 is 14.36%, and the capital adequacy ratio 2 is 19.01%.
Investment and Financing
"Shilv Technology" Secures Hundred Million Yuan Series A Financing
36Kr has learned that "Shilv Technology" recently announced the completion of a hundred million yuan Series A financing. The investors include Shenzhen Daily Yiben Fund, the Cultural Industry Investment Fund of the Guangzhou City Investment Group in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Gaorong Capital, Youshan Investment, and the investment platform Zhonghuyakang of YaKang Co., Ltd. The total scale exceeds one hundred million yuan. China Renaissance served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing. This round of funds will be used to accelerate the research and development and upgrade of the VtripGPT tourism large model, and continuously promote its market-oriented application in high-quality tourist destinations at home and abroad.
"Vector Equation" Secures Nearly Ten Million Yuan in Angel Round Financing
36Kr has learned that "Vector Equation", an intelligent digital human platform developer, previously completed an angel round financing of nearly ten million yuan, led by Zhencheng Capital (which has invested in APPs like Get and Evernote), with Beijing Jixin Management Consulting and Shanghai Angelcrunch as co-investors. The funds will be used to enrich the research and development of digital human product technologies.
"GMI Cloud" Secures $82 Million in Series A Funding
36Kr has learned that the AI cloud computing service provider "GMI Cloud" has announced the completion of its Series A financing, with a total amount of $82 million. This round of financing is led by Headline Asia, and at the same time, it has received strategic investments from Banpu, an intelligent energy solution provider in the Asia-Pacific region, and Wistron. This fund will be used for the construction of the data center in Colorado to strengthen GMI Cloud's layout in global AI computing power services.
"Zhiyuan Shenlan" Completes Multi-Million Yuan Seed Round Financing
36Kr has learned that "Zhiyuan Shenlan" has completed a multi-million yuan seed round financing. This round of financing is led by InnoAngel Fund, with Tsinghua Alumni Seed Fund and Zero2IPO Ventures participating. The raised funds will be mainly used for the development of a function-oriented generative AI platform for biomolecules, the construction of an automated functional evolution platform for proteins and polypeptides, and the exploration of the commercial market. Zhiyuan Shenlan was founded in 2024 and focuses on data-driven biomolecular design and manufacturing, and was incubated by MEGAROBO.
Cool Products
Apple Releases New MacBook Pro with M4 Series Chips
On October 30, Apple released the new MacBook Pro, which is equipped with the M4 series (M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max) chips. The new MacBook Pro is designed for Apple Intelligence. The 14-inch model is equipped with an M4 chip and three Thunderbolt 4 ports, with a standard 16GB of memory. The starting price is 12,999 yuan. The 14-inch and 16-inch models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips support Thunderbolt 5, with a faster transmission speed. The new MacBook Pro will be available for pre-order starting at 9 am on November 1, and officially go on sale on November 8. Apple stated that the launch time of Apple Intelligence depends on the approval of regulatory authorities. (Jiemian News)
Elon Musk: The number of humanoid robots will exceed that of humans by 2040, with a price of $20,000 - $25,000
On October 29, Elon Musk talked about humanoid robots at the "Future Investment Initiative" conference in Saudi Arabia. He believes that by 2040, the number of humanoid robots may exceed that of humans. There will be at least 10 billion humanoid robots by then, and each will cost between $20,000 and $25,000. Musk also said that this will push humanity into an era of abundance. (Zhitong Finance)
Organized by | Hao Yuqi