Krypton Evening Post｜The US has sent a letter to TSMC to impose export restrictions on certain complex chips, and the Ministry of Commerce responds; The head of Barclays Asia-Pacific says more recruitment will be carried out in India and Japan; LVMH appoints a new Chief Financial Officer.
Big Companies:
Barclays Asia-Pacific Head Says More Hiring in India and Japan
It is reported that Jaideep Khanna, the head of Barclays in the Asia-Pacific region, stated that the bank considers the Asia-Pacific as a crucial area for more investment and recruitment. "We have been recruiting in Japan and India, including in the market business and investment banking business," Jaideep Khanna said in an interview in Singapore. Khanna also mentioned that the Asia-Pacific "is a destination for further investment".
36Kr learned that on November 14, TikTok E-commerce released the data report of the 2024 "TikTok Mall Double 11 Shopping Festival". The report indicates that during the promotion period, a total of 275 brands achieved a transaction volume of over 100 million yuan through live-streaming with goods; 111 e-commerce author live-streaming rooms had a transaction volume of over 100 million yuan, and the transaction volume of more than 470,000 e-commerce authors doubled year-on-year, and the transaction volume growth rate of nearly 250,000 e-commerce authors exceeded 500%. Additionally, the transaction volume driven by the shelf field continues to rise, accounting for 42% of the total market, and the transaction volume of Super Value Purchase increased by 170% year-on-year.
Apple Faces $3.8 Billion Antitrust Lawsuit for iCloud Service
It is reported that the British consumer protection organization Which? stated it has filed a lawsuit against Apple for £3 billion, as Apple ties consumers to its iCloud storage service, violating competition rules. Which? said that Apple abuses its dominant position, forcing users to register for iCloud to store data such as photos and messages, but not allowing them to use the services of other competing suppliers to back up data. The organization also mentioned that Apple charges too much for the iCloud subscription service.
36Kr learned that DingTalk announced the core progress of commercialization at the 2024 Autumn DingTalk Summit: The ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue, annual recurring income. Included from April 1, 2024, and as of September 30, 2024) in the first half of the fiscal year 2025 exceeds $200 million. Ye Jun, the president of DingTalk, believes that since DingTalk started commercialization a year ago, the ARR income from software subscriptions alone in the first half of this fiscal year has far exceeded $200 million, which indicates that DingTalk's business model has been established.
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Commerce held today, in response to the situation that the US Department of Commerce sent a letter to TSMC to implement export restrictions on certain complex chips with 7-nanometer or more advanced designs for artificial intelligence accelerators and graphics processing units shipped to China, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce made a response. He Yongqian, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce: The Chinese side has noted the relevant situation. For some time, the US side has continuously abused export control measures, implemented long-arm jurisdiction, and continuously intensified the suppression and containment of the semiconductor industry in China, splitting the global semiconductor market. This is a serious violation of international economic and trade rules, a brutal interference in free trade, and a typical non-market practice. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce emphasized that the semiconductor is a typical representative field of global industrial division and cooperation. The US approach will seriously damage the interests of all parties and hinder global scientific and technological exchanges and economic and trade cooperation.
LVMH Appoints New Chief Financial Officer
The French luxury giant LVMH Group (LVMH) said on Thursday that it has appointed Cecile Cabanis as the new chief financial officer to replace Jean-Jacques Guiony, effective from February 1 next year. The company said that Guiony will be appointed as the president and CEO of its wine and spirits brand Moet Hennessy, replacing Philippe Schaus, who has long served as the executive of this department, from February next year.
LG Energy Solution Denies Large-Scale Layoffs at Nanjing Factory
Several employees of the South Korean lithium battery company LG Energy Solution recently posted messages on social platforms saying that LG Energy Solution (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as LG Energy Solution Nanjing), where they work, began layoffs in November. LG Energy Solution responded that the relevant information about the company's personnel flow circulated on the Internet recently is a normal employee adjustment under normal business operations, not a large-scale layoff as rumored. LG Energy Solution said that the purpose of this adjustment is to optimize the production line arrangement to enhance the core competitiveness in accordance with changes in the market environment. The company did not disclose the specific scale of the employee adjustment at the Nanjing production base.
The First Cross-River Low-Altitude Commercial UAV Route in China Takes Its First Flight
On the morning of November 13, an Ark 40 SF Best UAV carrying goods took off from Wuhan Wushang MALL Business District, marking the official first flight of the first cross-river low-altitude commercial UAV route in China. This route is jointly created by Wushang Group and SF Express, and was officially approved in October this year. In the future, it will further expand its service scope to cover multiple fields such as medical care and agricultural distribution to meet more extensive transportation needs.
Geely Will Integrate Zeekr and Lynk & Co Two Brands
36Kr exclusively learned that Lynk & Co, a subsidiary of Geely Group, will be merged into Zeekr Automobile, and will be managed by An Conghui, the CEO of Zeekr. After the merger, the Lynk & Co brand will be retained, but the team and strategy will be integrated with Zeekr. Among them, the finance and procurement teams will be the first to complete the merger, and the adjustments of the product, R & D and other departments will also be promoted from the end of this year to the beginning of next year.
On November 14, the "Beike City Line 2024 Public Media Open Day" was held in Suzhou to experience the convenience of the one-stop service for second-hand house transactions on the spot. It is understood that Beike has created a one-stop transaction service: Online, it cooperates with relevant government departments to complete all processes online; Offline, through the signing service center to solve the limitations of the physical field, it cooperates with banks and government agencies to set up fund trusteeship, transfer windows, self-service certificate printing facilities, etc., effectively ensuring the safety of signing and improving the efficiency of signing. At present, Beike Suzhou's one-stop service points have been gradually expanded to 11, covering about 90% of the transaction volume in Beike Suzhou, and the service of free real estate certificate printing is open to the whole city.
New Products:
OpenAI's First AI Assistant Product May Be Released in January Next Year
According to informed sources, OpenAI plans to launch a new AI assistant product codenamed "Operator", which can automatically perform various complex operations, including writing code, booking travel, and automatic e-commerce shopping. According to internal employee revelations, the OpenAI leadership expects to release this product in January 2025, first as a research preview version and development tool, and an API interface will be opened to developers at that time.
Xiaomi Automobile Officially Releases Intelligent Chassis Pre-research Technology
On November 14, Xiaomi Automobile officially released the intelligent chassis pre-research technology. Four items are released this time: Xiaomi Fully Active Suspension, Xiaomi Super Four-Motor System, Xiaomi 48V Wire Control Brake, and Xiaomi 48V Wire Control Steering. It can dance, make a U-turn in place, and also make a compass U-turn.
Investment and Financing:
"Green Voltis" Completes Angel Round Financing of Nearly $10 Million
36Kr learned that recently, the European virtual power plant enterprise "Green Voltis" announced the successful completion of the angel round financing, with an amount of nearly $10 million. This round of financing is led by CCV, with Yunqi Capital and Jihe Ventures participating together. This financing will mainly be used for technological innovation and market expansion of the AI Native virtual power plant.
Today's Views:
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida: Japan's Financial System Remains Stable
It is reported that Shinichi Uchida, the deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, stated that Japan's financial system remains stable, and banks have a sufficient capital base and stable financing channels. Shinichi Uchida said that the interest rate increase in Japan is much slower than that in the United States and Europe, and the impact on banks and the financial system is also relatively mild.
Other News Worth Noting:
It is learned from CNOOC that all 76 production wells in the Enping 15-1 Oilfield Group, the largest offshore intelligent oilfield group in China, have been put into production, with a daily output of more than 7,500 tons, setting a new historical high.
China's Annual Output of New Energy Vehicles Exceeds 10 Million for the First Time
36Kr learned that on November 14, the 2024 China New Energy Vehicle 10 Million Achievement Activity was held in Wuhan, Hubei. China's annual output of new energy vehicles has exceeded 10 million for the first time, and it is also the first country in the world to reach an annual output of 10 million new energy vehicles.
36Kr learned that according to the WeChat official account of China Railway, from January to October this year, the national railway sent 3.71 billion passengers, a year-on-year increase of 13%, setting another historical high in the same period, and the national railway transportation is safe, stable and orderly.