36Kr Evening News | Porsche rushes to take advantage of the tariff window period, shipping inventory to the US in advance to maintain prices; Leapmotor announces that its intelligent driving software will be fully free; The EU reveals details of building 13 AI super factories.
Large Companies:
Michelin expects Q1 sales to be below market expectations
According to the minutes of an investor conference call held on Wednesday evening, Michelin expects its sales in the first quarter to be slightly below market expectations due to more significant seasonal factors in the first half of 2025 than anticipated. The French tire manufacturer said that tariffs imposed by the United States will exacerbate market volatility, but its localization strategy will play an important role in dealing with tariffs. (Sina Finance)
Anta Sports plans to acquire German outdoor brand Jack Wolfskin for $290 million
36Kr learned that Anta Sports announced in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its subsidiary (Anta) today entered into a sales and purchase agreement with Topgolf regarding the equity interests of Callaway Germany Holdco GmbH. Anta conditionally agreed to purchase 100% of the equity interests of the target company at a base consideration of $290 million in cash, subject to adjustments for net working capital and other customary adjustments. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2025. The target company is incorporated in Germany and operates the business of "Jack Wolfskin", one of the professional brands of outdoor clothing, footwear, and equipment globally.
36Kr learned that on the afternoon of April 10, the Ministry of Commerce called on large supermarkets and distribution enterprises to leverage their respective advantages to help foreign - trade enterprises expand domestic sales channels. Yonghui Superstores actively responded and took the lead. Since Yonghui issued "A Letter to High - quality Chinese Supply Chains" on April 7, it has received hundreds of emails so far and entered into procurement discussions with over 70 high - quality supply chain enterprises, including those supplying to the US market such as Costco and Sam's Club. Yonghui is actively negotiating to match high - quality products and launch them in the market as soon as possible. Yonghui said it will further leverage the advantage of its over 700 stores across the country to actively cooperate with Chinese foreign - trade enterprises and expand the domestic demand market.
Porsche races ahead of the tariff window, shipping inventory to the US in advance to maintain prices
According to the minutes of an investor meeting disclosed by Bernstein Research, Porsche's management revealed in a conference call on Wednesday that the company has shipped incremental inventory to the US market in advance to avoid the impact of tariffs and will maintain the prices of orders in March. The minutes show that the luxury car manufacturer expects its operating profit margin to be below the annual guidance range of 10 - 12%, and this forecast does not take into account the possible 25% tariff on automobile imports imposed by the United States. (Sina Finance)
The EU discloses details of building 13 AI super - factories
The EU has started to implement a plan to build 13 AI super - factories, which will be equipped with supercomputers and data centers. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the "Invest in AI" initiative at the AI Action Summit held in Paris, the capital of France, on February 11, aiming to mobilize 200 billion euros in investment to promote AI development. Under this initiative, the EU will set up a 20 - billion - euro fund specifically for building European AI super - factories. According to the "Artificial Intelligence Continental Action Plan", the supercomputers of several of the EU's most powerful AI super - factories will be equipped with up to 25,000 high - end AI processors. Each super - factory will have more than 100,000 high - end AI processors. (Caixin)
Waymo to conduct its first international test in Japan
Next week, Waymo, a self - driving technology company under Google's parent company Alphabet, will conduct its first international test on public roads in Japan. Waymo has not confirmed whether it will eventually launch a commercial self - driving taxi service in the country, but the company still regards this attempt as an "important milestone". (Caixin)
Investment and Financing:
"Stardust Intelligence" completes hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A and Series A+ financing
36Kr learned that recently, "Stardust Intelligence" has successively completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A and Series A+ financing, led by Jinqiu Fund and Ant Group, with participation from existing shareholders such as Yunqi Capital and Daotong Capital. Huaxing Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. "Stardust Intelligence" is committed to building an AI robot assistant with human - level operation capabilities through a software - hardware integrated system architecture, and promoting the world model through the coordinated evolution of "body + data + model" to drive the large - scale application of general embodied intelligence technology in various industries.
36Kr learned that recently, Zhuichuang Venture Capital successfully completed the fundraising of the first - phase fund of the 10 - billion - yuan Shaoxing industrial fund. The Shaoxing industrial fund will invest in robotics, AI, high - end equipment manufacturing, and the Zhimi ecological chain industries. It is reported that in August 2024, Zhuichuang Venture Capital announced the establishment of this industrial venture capital fund and completed the first closing of the RMB - denominated fund. In half a year, the fund was over - subscribed, with a MOIC of 2.5 times, and the valuations of 100% of the projects in the fund doubled.
THINKRIDE: To shift business focus from domestic sales to overseas markets in 2025
36Kr learned that THINKRIDER, a Chinese cycling trainer brand, said that it aims to achieve 100 million yuan in overseas sales on AliExpress this year and will shift its business focus from domestic sales to overseas markets in 2025, "fighting back" in the overseas high - end market. It is reported that during the March promotion on AliExpress this year, THINKRIDE's sales increased 31 times year - on - year. Currently, THINKRIDE's main markets on AliExpress are Europe, South Korea, Brazil, and Mexico, and 4,000 cycling trainers are on their way to overseas warehouses.
36Kr learned that information from Tianyancha App shows that recently, Suzhou Danyi Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) was established. The general partner is Suzhou Yaoyi Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., with a capital contribution of about 249 million yuan. Its business scope includes venture capital, equity investment, investment management, and asset management through private funds. Information on partners shows that the enterprise is jointly funded by Shenzhen Chuanyi Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership) under Tencent and Suzhou Yaoyi Enterprise Management Co., Ltd.
New Products:
Leapmotor announces free intelligent driving software
36Kr learned that Leapmotor issued an announcement stating that from now on, for models with intelligent driving assistance functions, the intelligent driving software will be completely free, including the free opening of the high - speed intelligent navigation assistance (NAP) function. For users who have previously paid to activate the NAP function, the company will refund the relevant fees before May 31, 2025.
Nissan to launch next - generation ProPILOT autonomous driving technology in fiscal year 2027
Nissan announced on April 10 that it will launch the next - generation ProPILOT autonomous driving technology equipped with Nissan's ground truth perception technology, next - generation lidar, and Wayve AI Driver software in fiscal year 2027. (Jiemian)
Today's Views:
Qi Xiangdong: Solve small - data security issues in the big - data era
On April 10, the "Data Element X" competition jointly initiated by the National Data Administration and multiple ministries and institutions was launched in Xiongan New Area. Qi Xiangdong, the chairman of Qi'anxin Group, attended the event and emphasized that in the big - data era, small - data security issues need to be solved. Small - data security is the key to the steady and orderly promotion of government - affairs large - model applications. Qi Xiangdong pointed out that traditional big data has limited value due to fragmentation and uneven quality; while in vertical scenarios such as government - affairs large models, the "small data" after annotation and cleaning has become a high - value asset, and once leaked, it will cause a fatal blow to enterprises or the government. Qi'anxin will continue to explore the upgrading of security technologies to build a solid defense line for applications such as government - affairs large models and help release the value of data elements.
On April 10, the 2025 China Mobile Cloud - Intelligent Computing Conference was held in Suzhou. At the meeting, Yang Jie, the chairman of China Mobile, said that the company's schedulable computing power resources account for one - sixth of the country's total. In the future, it will strengthen cloud - intelligent computing, layout in three directions such as diversified computing power, and build an AI full - stack service. He also mentioned that the scale effect of AI is deepening, the cost of use is decreasing, tasks have become the main content carried by the computing power network, the rebound effect of computing power is accelerating, and the scale of intelligent computing power will increase by more than 2.5 times in the next three years. (Meirijing)
On April 9 local time, Citigroup signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Airlines, promising to provide over $560 million in funding to support the latter's strategic investment plan, aiming to help it enhance its operational capabilities and expand its international route network. Citigroup will also provide strategic consulting services, aiming to help Vietnam Airlines establish a sound financial framework to ensure efficient investment and effective risk management. (Jiemian)
Other Noteworthy News:
36Kr learned that the National Healthcare Security Administration announced that to strengthen the social security role of maternity insurance, deepen the "tri - medical" linkage reform, continuously innovate and improve China's maternity insurance system, further enhance the management and service capabilities and levels of maternity insurance, and support the construction of a healthy China, with the consent of the National Healthcare Security Administration and the approval of the council of the China Health Insurance Research Association, it was decided to establish the Professional Committee of Maternity Insurance of the China Health Insurance Research Association. Currently, the preparatory work for the special committee is ready, and it is now soliciting members from all sectors of society.
Reuters reported on the 9th, citing a report by National Public Radio (NPR) titled "After the Mar - a - Lago dinner, the Trump administration drops the fight against NVIDIA's AI chip H20", that two sources told NPR that after Jensen Huang, the CEO of artificial - intelligence chip giant NVIDIA, attended a dinner at Mar - a - Lago in Florida last Friday (the 4th), the US White House changed its plan to restrict NVIDIA's export of H20 to China and suspended further restrictions on the export of such chips. (Global Times)