8:01 AM Update: Apple's total market value nears $4 trillion, hitting a record high; Platform responds to case where a merchant asks a customer to slap their child for 5 minutes during a return; Fat Donglai sets up an open day, charging 20,000 yuan per person.
Today's Hotspot Guide
12306 Adds a Function to Upgrade Seats with Points
25 Provinces Implement Direct Payment of Maternity Allowances to Individuals
Visual China Discloses the Progress of Cooperation with ByteDance's CapCut
The Louvre Remains Closed
Customer Service Responds to the Issue of Apple Music Crashing When Playing "Invincible Brave" (Gu Yong Zhe)
Samsung to Launch HBM4 at the End of October
Top 3 Big News
Apple's total market value hits a record high, reaching $3.89 trillion
36Kr learned that at the close on October 20, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose collectively. The Nasdaq rose 1.37%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.12%, and the S&P 500 Index rose 1.07%. Large technology stocks generally rose. Apple rose nearly 4%, with its stock price hitting a record high, and its total market value reached $3.89 trillion, making it the second-largest company by market value in the United States, second only to Nvidia.
Netflix rose more than 3%, Intel and Meta rose more than 2%, Tesla, Google, and Amazon rose more than 1%, and Microsoft rose slightly; Nvidia fell slightly. Popular Chinese concept stocks strengthened collectively. iQiyi rose more than 8%, NIO rose more than 4%, Alibaba and NetEase rose more than 3%, JD.com and Pinduoduo rose more than 2%, and Bilibili and Baidu rose more than 1%.
Child Buys $500 Worth of Trading Cards, Merchant Demands 5 Minutes of Self - Slapping for Return, Platform Customer Service Responds
Li Yun, the mother of an 11 - year - old girl, recently discovered that her child had spent over $500 on trading cards on the Qiandao App. When she tried to return the cards and get a refund, she was told, "Upload a video of the parent scolding the child and a video of the parent slapping the child hard (the video should last 5 minutes without interruption and must clearly capture the sound of slaps)." Li Yun turned to the platform's customer service for help. The customer service replied, "Sorry, the platform cannot enforce it. It is recommended that both parties negotiate and communicate."
According to the official introduction of Qiandao, it is a "community and trading platform for young people's hobbies." Many interviewees said that Qiandao is the largest and most well - known in the second - hand trendy collectibles trading market. According to media reports in August this year, the total transaction volume of the Qiandao platform is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan in 2025, with 70% of it being trendy collectibles. Moreover, the transaction volume has doubled year after year for six consecutive years. (Phoenix Network)
Fat Donglai Announces the Establishment of Open Days: Open to Corporate Learning Visits, with a Fee of 20,000 Yuan per Person
On October 20th, Fat Donglai Commerce and Trade Group announced the establishment of open days. Starting from November 1st, 2025, it will be open to corporate learning visits on the 10th and 20th of each month, with a fee of 20,000 Yuan per person. Fat Donglai stated, "In order to allow the outside world to better understand and learn from Fat Donglai, we have established the 'Fat Donglai Open Day' to provide a channel for everyone to visit the enterprise internally." (Jiemian News)
Illustration
Big Companies/Big Events
12306 Adds Seat Upgrade Function with Points Redemption, Frequent Traveler Members Aged 14 to 28 Receive Double Points
Starting from October 20th, China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. will optimize and upgrade the "Railway Smooth Travel" frequent traveler membership service. Frequent traveler members aged 14 to 28 who hold resident identity cards, residence permits for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, permits for Hong Kong and Macao residents to enter and leave the Chinese mainland, permits for Taiwan residents to enter and leave the Chinese mainland, and permanent residence identity cards for foreigners will enjoy more substantial point discounts. On top of redeeming train tickets with membership points, a new seat upgrade function is added, further expanding the application scenarios of frequent traveler membership points. Passengers will get more benefits, which is conducive to stimulating the consumption potential of the "railway +" model, promoting personnel flow and economic development along the railway lines, and injecting new impetus into the overall expansion of domestic demand. (Red Star News)
25 Provinces Have Implemented Direct Payment of Maternity Allowances to Individuals
According to the National Healthcare Security Administration, since September, provinces such as Jiangxi, Anhui, and Shaanxi have successively implemented the direct payment of maternity allowances to individuals across the province. Liaoning and Jiangsu have recently issued official documents and will implement the direct payment of maternity allowances to individuals across the province starting from November 1st. It is estimated that by November 1st, 25 provinces (including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) across the country will have implemented the direct payment of maternity allowances to individuals, namely Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The provinces that have not fully implemented it are mainly Beijing, Tianjin, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Xinjiang. Nearly 90% of the coordinated regions have implemented the direct payment of maternity allowances to individuals. (Yicai Global)
Exposure of "JD Auto" Body Data: Equipped with New National Standard Mechanical Semi-hidden Door Handles
JD updated some data information on the vehicle reservation page. The disclosed data mainly focuses on body manufacturing processes and data. It is understood that in terms of the body structure, it adopts a high-strength cage design, with high-strength steel accounting for over 70%. The front three-dimensional protection frame improves the vehicle's impact resistance by 18%. On the side, it is equipped with an integrated thermoformed double door ring, using the same technology as the Tesla Cybertruck, and is paired with new national standard mechanical semi-hidden safety door handles. In terms of performance, the vehicle's curb weight is 300 kg more than that of its peer models. Its wheelbase is 45 mm wider than the industry average, and the tire width is 10 mm wider. The moose test result exceeds 75 km/h. (The Paper)
NIO's internal meeting stated: Achieving profitability in the fourth quarter is a must
Li Bin of NIO said at a recent internal meeting for middle - and senior - level employees that achieving profitability in the fourth quarter of this year is a must. Li Bin believes that the prerequisite for profitability in the fourth quarter is for the company to do the following three things well: First, conduct effective marketing for key models; Second, ensure supply and reduce costs in the supply chain; Third, deliver high - quality software versions on time. (Securities Times)
Hong Kong International Airport Responds to Cargo Plane Crash into the Sea: Suspected to Have Slid off the Runway Due to Loss of Control
Early in the morning on October 20th, an incident occurred at Hong Kong International Airport. A cargo plane arriving from Dubai, UAE, overshot the runway and crashed into the sea during landing. An airport ground service vehicle was hit, and the two people on board went missing in the sea for a while. Subsequently, one person was rescued but pronounced dead at the scene, and the other died after being sent to the hospital. The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department said on the 20th that an incident took place at Hong Kong International Airport at 3:50 a.m. that day. The B744 cargo plane (flight number UAE9788) arriving from Al Maktoum International Airport in the UAE deviated after landing on the north runway and slid into the sea. Affected by the incident, the north runway of Hong Kong Airport was closed, while the south runway and the middle runway continued to operate.
On October 20th, Hong Kong International Airport posted a response on its Weibo account, saying, "We are deeply saddened by the passing of our two beloved colleagues in this morning's incident on the north runway. The patrol vehicle they were in was on duty outside the runway area at the time of the incident. The cargo plane is suspected to have slid off the runway due to loss of control and unfortunately hit the patrol vehicle." Hong Kong International Airport promised to cooperate closely with all relevant units to ensure a thorough investigation of the accident. (CCTV News, Jiemian News)
General Manager of Arc'teryx Greater China Region Leaves
On October 20th, Amer Sports, the parent company of Arc'teryx, officially announced on October 17th, 2025, that Ivan She, the General Manager of Arc'teryx Greater China Region, has left the position. This position will be temporarily taken over by Lei Ma, the President of Amer Greater China Region. During the transition period, Lei Ma will report directly to Stuart Haselden, the Global CEO of Arc'teryx. However, the company did not disclose the specific reason for Ivan She's departure. (Sina Finance)
Fenbi: Chairman and Major Shareholders Make Voluntary Lock - up Commitments
36Kr learned that on October 20th, Fenbi announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it had received commitment letters from Zhang Xiaolong, the company's board chairman, executive director, CEO and major shareholder, and Wei Liang, the company's executive director, president, CTO and major shareholder respectively. According to the commitment letters, based on their full confidence in the company's long - term value and to safeguard the interests of investors, Zhang Xiaolong and Wei Liang voluntarily committed respectively that they would not sell, in any way, any of the company's shares they directly or indirectly hold within a period of twenty - four months starting from October 20th, 2025.
CAAM: Monthly production and sales of new energy vehicles reached a record high in September
36Kr learned that according to the analysis of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in September, the monthly production and sales of new energy vehicles reached a record high, and the proportion of domestic sales of new energy vehicles increased significantly compared with the same period. In September 2025, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.617 million and 1.604 million units respectively, with year-on-year increases of 23.7% and 24.6% respectively. From January to September 2025, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 11.243 million and 11.228 million units respectively, with year-on-year increases of 35.2% and 34.9% respectively.
Business Address and Other Information of Jipaige Studio Changed
36Kr learned that the Aiqicha app shows that recently, there have been industrial and commercial changes in Jingdezhen Zhushan District Lijunyong Catering Management Studio (self-employed business). The enterprise name has been changed to Changjiang District Lijunyong Catering Management Studio (self-employed business), the food sales (only selling prepackaged food) has been removed from the business scope, and the business address has also been changed. The studio was established in September this year. It is a self-employed business, and the operator is Li Junyong (Jipaige), with a registered capital of 50,000 RMB.
Chow Tai Fook to Initiate Second Price Adjustment This Year: "Fixed-Price" Gold Products to See Price Hike of About 12% to 18%
On October 20th, Chow Tai Fook stated, "Considering the impact of the continuous rise in gold prices on costs, the Group plans to increase the retail prices of priced gold products at the end of October. The price increase for most products is expected to be between 12% and 18%. The Group has a mechanism in place to closely monitor gold price fluctuations and make price adjustments in a timely manner to respond to market changes." Chow Tai Fook's gold jewelry and product categories include gold products sold by weight and at fixed prices. The price of gold sold by weight fluctuates daily according to international gold prices. The priced gold products had their prices increased in March this year, with the increase ranging from about 10% to 20%. (The Paper)
The construction of China's four world-class airport clusters has taken initial shape
Now, there are more and more airports in various places, and the flight routes are more extensive. In the past five years, China's civil aviation has invested over 100 billion yuan in infrastructure annually. The construction of the four world-class airport clusters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing area has taken initial shape. There are 4,513 domestic flight routes, and more than 260 cities are served. (CCTV News)
VCG Discloses Progress of Cooperation with ByteDance's CapCut: Revenue Recognized
Regarding the current progress of the cooperation between ByteDance's CapCut and VCG, on the afternoon of October 19th, VCG stated at an analyst meeting that the cooperation with CapCut is an important collaboration for VCG in the field of AI applications, and revenue has been recognized from this cooperation. VCG also said that the company is currently collaborating with leading domestic AIGC content generation service providers to promote the implementation of the business model of AI generation + copyright. (Jiemian News)
Hongguo Launches Closed Beta of Short Drama Product Promotion, Connecting 200 Million Monthly Active Users with Douyin E-commerce
Recently, Hongguo Short Dramas has launched a small - scale closed beta of short drama product promotion. When users watch short dramas on the Hongguo App, a "Search for Similar Products" prompt will automatically pop up. Or when users pause watching, the prompt to search for similar products will be displayed on the page. Currently, the "Search for Similar Products" promotion method covers almost all short dramas on the Hongguo platform. Hongguo Short Dramas has started to divert traffic to Douyin E - commerce and is expected to become a new super - large entry point in the ByteDance ecosystem. According to QuestMobile data, in June 2025, the year - on - year growth rate of Hongguo's user scale reached as high as 179.0%, with the monthly active users reaching 212 million. (Tech Planet)
Over 25 million shares of Romoss are frozen, and over 160,000 power banks have been recalled in total
On October 20th, according to the website of the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, recently, Jiangmen Romoss Technology Co., Ltd. has added multiple pieces of equity freezing information. The company's equity worth 2.1 million RMB in Jiangmen Ebisu Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. has been frozen by the Third People's Court of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, and its equity worth 23.1315405 million RMB has been frozen by the People's Court of Pengjiang District, Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. In addition, the equity worth 1.7588 million RMB of Jiangmen Romoss Technology Co., Ltd. held by Shenzhen Romoss Technology Co., Ltd. has been frozen by the People's Court of Nanshan District, Shenzhen City. (Jiemian News)
The Louvre Remains Closed
The Louvre Museum in France announced on October 20th that it remained closed for the second consecutive day after a theft. (CCTV International News)
Customer service responds to the issue of Apple Music crashing when playing "The Lonely Brave": It will be fixed in a subsequent update.
Recently, some users reported that when using Apple Music on the Apple iOS 26.0.1 version to play "The Lonely Brave" by Eason Chan, the app would crash. After actual testing, when the song plays to 3 minutes and 41 seconds, and the lyrics show "Shall I go? Go then, with the humblest dream", the app does crash. On October 20th, Apple customer service responded that they had received a lot of relevant feedback. This problem mainly affects users of the iOS 26 system and only occurs when playing "The Lonely Brave" by Eason Chan at the above - mentioned time point. Other songs are not affected for now. The customer service said, "This is a compatibility bug in Apple Music and will be fixed in a subsequent update, which does not affect the normal use of the software." They also advised users to pay attention to software version updates. (Kuaikeji)
The sales of the iPhone 17 in the first 10 days were 14% higher than those of the previous generation during the same period, and the demand for the iPhone 17 is much higher than that for the iPhone 16 models
On October 20th, according to data from market research firm Counterpoint Research, the sales of the iPhone 17 series in the first 10 days after its launch in the United States and China were 14% higher than those of the previous-generation iPhone 16 series during the same period. The data shows that the demand for the standard iPhone 17 is much higher than that for the $799 iPhone 16 models from last year. Counterpoint analysts pointed out that this sales growth is mainly due to the improvement in screen performance, the increase in storage capacity, and the upgrade of the A19 chip. (IT Home)
US Coffee Prices Keep Rising, with Tariffs as the Driving Force
The continuous increase in the price of coffee beans has made US coffee roasters and their consumers extremely anxious. The retail coffee price in August was nearly 21% higher than the same period last year. The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are partly to blame: In July, Brazil was subject to a high tariff of 50%, making it one of the countries with the highest tax rates; Vietnam and Colombia faced tariffs of 20% and 10% respectively. According to data from the National Coffee Association, over 99% of the coffee in the US relies on imports. (Sina Finance)
Overseas Sales of South Korean Literary Works Increased by 130% Year-on-Year Last Year
Data recently released by the Korea Literature Translation Institute shows that the overseas sales of South Korean literary works reached approximately 1.2 million copies last year, a surge of 130% year-on-year, setting a new historical record. Over the past five years, both the number of international publications and the cumulative sales of South Korean literature have shown a continuous upward trend. From 2020 to 2024, a total of 942 South Korean literary works were published overseas in 40 languages, with cumulative sales of approximately 2.68 million copies. In contrast, from 2019 to 2023, the number of publications and cumulative sales were 834 and 1.95 million copies respectively. (Jiemian News)
Microsoft's Next-Generation AI Chips May Be Manufactured by Intel
It is reported that Microsoft has placed a wafer manufacturing order for its next-generation AI chip, Maia 2, with Intel, planning to use the 18A or 18A-P process. The chip will be used in AI infrastructure such as Microsoft's Azure data centers. (Cailian Press)
Samsung to Launch HBM4 at the End of October
It is reported that Samsung is accelerating the R&D of HBM4. It plans to unveil the sixth - generation 12 - layer HBM4 at the Samsung Tech Day 2025 from October 27th to 31st and mass - produce it later this year. (Cailian Press)
On the Way to Market
Guangdong Jintian Animation Co., Ltd.
36Kr learned that according to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Guangdong Jintian Animation Co., Ltd. submitted an IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China Merchants Securities International and China Galaxy International are the joint sponsors.
Yuwang Bio-Nutrition Co., Ltd.
36Kr learned that documents from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed that Yuwang Bio-Nutrition Co., Ltd. submitted an IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with China Merchants Securities International and CCB International as joint sponsors.
The Cutting-Edge of AI
Wang Xingxing of Unitree: As AI and software capabilities become stronger, the requirements for hardware are getting lower
On October 20th, at the Academic Annual Conference of Meituan Robotics Research Institute at IROS 2025, Wang Xingxing said that everyone hopes the hardware is good enough so that the software can run smoothly on the first try. However, in reality, the results are very poor. One point I've always insisted on is that as AI and software capabilities become stronger, the requirements for hardware are getting lower. Wang Xingxing believes that as AI capabilities become stronger, the algorithms trained by AI have much lower requirements for hardware than traditional algorithms. (Sina Technology)
Alibaba's Quark Secretly Launches "Project C": Involving Conversational AI Applications
Alibaba's Quark is internally promoting an AI business codenamed "Project C". This project is led by Quark's core team, and several senior members from Tongyi Laboratory are also involved. Multiple sources revealed that this project is related to the layout of conversational AI applications, and the first new achievement will be launched soon. According to the sources, "Project C" has been secretly promoted within Quark for a long time, and what is about to surface is only a phased result. (Sina Technology)
DeepSeek Team Open-Sources New Model DeepSeek-OCR: Massive Text Compression Achieved with a Small Number of Visual Tokens
The DeepSeek-AI team published the paper "DeepSeek-OCR: Contexts Optical Compression", proposing a new method for compressing long text contexts using the visual modality. The Hugging Face page shows that the model has 3 billion parameters. (Cailian Press)
Financial Reports of Large Companies
China Mobile: Net profit reached 115.4 billion yuan in the first three quarters, up 4% year-on-year
36Kr learned that China Mobile announced that its net profit in the first three quarters was 115.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4%. China Mobile's operating revenue in the first three quarters was 794.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%; among which, the communication service revenue was 683.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%. China Mobile's revenue from product sales and others in the first three quarters was 111.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%.
Iflytek: Net profit in the third quarter was 172 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 202.40%
36Kr learned that Iflytek announced that the company achieved an operating income of 6.078 billion yuan in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 10.02%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 172 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 202.4%. In the first three quarters, the operating income reached 16.989 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.41%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was a loss of 66.6754 million yuan.
Chuanjinnuo: Net profit in the third quarter was 127 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 189.43%
36Kr learned that Chuanjinnuo announced that its revenue in the third quarter was 1.063 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.01%; the net profit was 127 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 189.43%. The revenue in the first three quarters was 2.807 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.57%; the net profit was 304 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 175.61%.
Alloy Investment: Net profit in the third quarter was 2.6823 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4985.25%
36Kr learned that Alloy Investment announced that its revenue in the third quarter was 65.7118 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.61%; the net profit was 2.6823 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4985.25%. The revenue in the first three quarters was 230 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 54.61%; the net profit was 7.2581 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 124.87%. The increase in revenue was mainly due to the operation of the transportation business during the reporting period.
Hans Laser CNC: Net profit in the third quarter was 228 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 281.94%
36Kr learned that Hans Laser CNC announced that its operating income in the first three quarters reached 3.903 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 66.53%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 492 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 142.19%. The operating income in the third quarter was 1.521 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 95.19%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 228 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 281.94%.
Cool Products
Unitree Technology Unveils H2 Bionic Robot
On October 20th, Unitree Technology launched the H2 bionic humanoid robot, which stands 180 cm tall and weighs 70 kg. According to reports, its bionic facial design and optimized full - body joints make its appearance closer to that of a real human, enhancing the affinity of human - machine interaction. Compared with its predecessor, the G1 (about 130 cm tall), the H2's height and weight are closer to those of an adult, and its load - carrying capacity has increased by more than 30%. It is suitable for industrial assembly and home service scenarios. In addition, Unitree emphasizes the lightweight structure and easy - maintenance design of the H2, which reduces the deployment cost. Although the official has not announced the exact selling price yet, the industry expects the unit price of the H2 to be controlled within $50,000, far lower than the $100,000 threshold of international competitors. (36Kr, Financial Observation)
AI Landscape
The United States' AI industry has started an "integration" mode through intensive alliances.
Compiled | Baby Chinese Cabbage