China Internet Watch https://www.chinainternetwatch.com China Internet Stats, Trends, Insights Mon, 28 Jun 2021 11:58:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-ciw-logo-2019-v1b-80x80.png China Internet Watch https://www.chinainternetwatch.com 32 32 Top AI companies and platforms in China https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/32052/ai-company-market-share/ Mon, 28 Jun 2021 11:58:21 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=32052

China's AI public cloud service market reached 2.41 billion yuan (US$370 million), accounting for 10.4% of the overall AI software market. IDC estimates that by 2025, the proportion of public cloud services in China's AI software market will reach 36.1%.

China's AI software market reached 23.09 billion yuan in 2020, about 60% of the US AI software market. Find out China's leading companies and platform in AI Cloud, computer vision, voice, and machine learning platforms.

Various AI vendors have launched self-learning platforms in various technical fields as different forms of AutoML products. Baidu Smart Cloud is still in the first place of AI public cloud service market share. Its AI application is in full bloom across multiple industries.

Alibaba Cloud continues to enrich AI capabilities, and it also continues to embed AI capabilities into solutions. In terms of channel and partner ecology, it has been in the lead.

Tencent Cloud and Huawei Cloud followed closely.
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China smart speaker market overview 2021 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/31704/smart-speaker-market/ Tue, 23 Feb 2021 01:45:04 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=31704

In 2020, the smart speaker market in China sold 36.76 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 8.6%; among them, smart speakers with screens accounted for 35.5% and sales increased by 31.0%, according to data from IDC. Baidu leads the smart speakers (with screens) market, followed by Alibaba and Xiaomi.

The overall market share this time is mainly affected by the epidemic, channel adjustments, and limited application scenarios.

In 2020, the competitive landscape of China's smart speaker market still maintains a tri-power competition, with sales accounting for more than 95% of the market share. Among them, the competition between Alibaba's Tmall Genie and Baidu's Xiaodu smart speakers is particularly fierce.

From the perspective of sales in 2020, Alibaba's Tmall Genie ranked first. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the cooperation between Baidu and Pinduoduo won the sales champion in that quarter.

In the smart speaker market with screens, Baidu maintained its lead with a m...

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Chinese search engine Sogou reported $31.6 million loss in Q1 2020 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/30600/sogou-q1-2020/ Mon, 18 May 2020 09:12:03 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=30600 Sogou (NYSE: SOGO), China’s second-largest search engine, reported total revenues of $257.3 million, a 2% increase year-over-year, or a 5% increase in RMB terms according to its unaudited financial results.

Sogou’s search-related revenues were $237.6 million, a 1% increase year-over-year. The auction-based pay-per-click services continued to increase year-over-year, accounting for 91.0% of search and search-related revenues, compared to 87.2% in the corresponding period in 2019.

Other revenues were $19.7 million, a 6% increase year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to increased revenues from sales of smart hardware products.

Net loss attributable to Sogou Inc. was $31.6 million, compared to a net loss of $3.9 million in Q1 2019. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to Sogou Inc. was $31.1 million, compared to a net loss of $2.7 million in the corresponding period in 2019.

Sogou Mobile Keyboard had 482 million DAUs (daily average users), up 9% year-over-year. As China’s largest voice recognition app, it processed up to 1.4 billion daily voice requests.

Sogou released its Sogou Mobile Keyboard 10.8 in April 2020, the latest version of the Sogou Mobile Keyboard. Powered by its AI technologies, the latest upgrade features new multilingual voice-based transcription and translation services, supports language input in four more languages, and offers improved accuracy rates for voice inputs.

For the second quarter of 2020, Sogou expects total revenues to be in the range of $260 million to $280 million, representing a decrease of 8% to 14% year-over-year, or a decrease of 4% to 11% year-over-year in RMB terms.

China’s mobile search market overview 2020

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China second largest search engine Sogou revenues up 14% in Q3 2019 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/29986/sogou-q3-2019/ Tue, 05 Nov 2019 12:00:15 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=29986 sogou.com homepage

China’s second-largest search engine Sogou announced total revenues of $314.9 million in the third quarter, a 14% increase year-over-year, or a 17% increase in RMB terms.

Search and search-related revenues were $288.2 million, a 13% increase year-over-year and accounting for 91.5% of total revenues in Q3 2019.

The increase was primarily due to growth in auction-based pay-for-click services. Auction-based pay-for-click services accounted for 88.7% of search and search-related revenues, compared to 82.7% in Q3 2018.

Other revenues were $26.7 million, a 25% increase year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to increased revenues from sales of smart hardware products.

Net income attributable to Sogou was $36.6 million, a 53% increase year-over-year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Sogou was $40.9 million, a 46% increase year-over-year.

Cost of revenues was $189.3 million, a 9% increase year-over-year. Traffic acquisition cost was $143.7 million, a 6% increase year-over-year, representing 45.6% of total revenues, compared to 48.9% in Q3 2018.

Gross profit was $125.6 million, a 22% increase year-over-year. Non-GAAP gross profit was $125.7 million, a 22% increase year-over-year.

Total operating expenses were $98.2 million, a 10% decrease year-over-year.

  • Research and development expenses were $50.0 million, relatively stable year-over-year, representing 15.9% of total revenues, compared to 18.3% in Q3 2018.
  • Sales and marketing expenses were $37.5 million, a 14% decrease year-over-year, representing 11.9% of total revenues, compared to 15.8% in Q3 2018. The decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in marketing and promotional spending.
  • General and administrative expenses were $10.7 million, a 31% decrease year-over-year, representing 3.4% of total revenues, compared to 5.6% in Q3 2018. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in expenses related to non-core business initiatives.

Sogou’s operating income was $27.4 million, compared to an operating loss of $6.8 million in Q3 2018. Non-GAAP operating income was $31.6 million, compared to non-GAAP operating loss of $2.7 million.

Income tax expense was $2.4 million, compared to an income tax benefit of $0.4 million in the corresponding period of 2018.

Net income attributable to Sogou was $36.6 million, a 53% increase year-over-year, compared to net income of $23.9 million in Q3 2018. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Sogou was $40.9 million, a 46% increase year-over-year, compared to net income of $28.0 million in Q3 2018.

Basic and diluted earnings per ADS were $0.09. Non-GAAP basic and diluted earnings per ADS were $0.10.

As of September 30, 2019, ogouS had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $1.1 billion, compared with $1.0 billion as of December 31, 2018Net operating cash inflow for Q3 2019 was $19.6 millionCapital expenditures for Q3 2019 were $0.7 million.

Sogou Mobile Keyboard had 464 million daily average users, up 14% year-over-year. Claiming to be China’s largest voice app, it processed up to 830 million daily voice requests.

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Xiaomi in Q2 2019: smart hardware, IoT, AI, internet services https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/29705/xiaomi-q2-2019/ Sat, 24 Aug 2019 05:14:58 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=29705

Xiaomi’s monthly active users (“MAU”) of MIUI reached 278.7 million, an increase of 34.7% YoY. AI assistant “ Xiao’ai ” had 49.9 million MAU; Xiaomi ranked 4th globally in terms of smartphone shipments; and, global shipments of its smart TVs reached 2.7 million units.

Xiaomi financial performance

In the second quarter of 2019, Xiaomi recorded RMB52.0 billion in revenue, representing an increase of 14.8% over the corresponding period of 2018. Gross profit margin increased to 14.0% from the 12.5% achieved in the corresponding period of 2018. Adjusted Net Profit increased by 71.7% to RMB3.6 billion. As of June 30, 2019, its total cash resources amounted to RMB51.1 billion.

The “Smartphone + AIoT” dual-engine strategy that Xiaomi adopted at the beginning of the year has borne fruit. Its user base has continued to expand and the number of devices connected to its platform has continued to grow.

In June, 2019, monthly active users (“MAU”) of MIUI reached 278.7 million, an increase of 34.7% over the corresponding period of 2018. The number of connected IoT devices (excluding smartphones and laptops) on its IoT platform reached approximately 196 million units as of June 30, 2019, representing year-over-year growth of 69.5%.

Meanwhile, its AI assistant “ Xiao’ai ” had 49.9 million MAU in June 2019, representing a year-over-year increase of 88.3%.

Xiaomi has won a number of international recognitions in 2019 to date. It took Xiaomi only 9 years to debut on the Fortune Global 500 list of 2019, becoming the youngest company on the list this year. Furthermore, Xiaomi made it into the 2019 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking for the first time, ranking 74th with a brand value of US$19.8 billion. Xiaomi has also been recognized as one of the 2019 Forbes China’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.

Xiaomi Smartphones

Its smartphone segment recorded RMB32.0 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2019, representing an increase of 5.0% over the corresponding period of 2018. Its smartphone sales volume in the second quarter of 2019 reached 32.1 million units.

According to Canalys, Xiaomi ranked 4th globally in terms of smartphone shipments during the second quarter of 2019 and its market share in terms of global smartphone shipments increased from 9.5% in the second quarter of 2018 to 9.7% in Q2 2019.

Both its Xiaomi brand, which focuses on pioneering advanced technologies, establishing itself in the mid- to high-end markets, and building online and offline new retail channels, and its Redmi brand, which is positioned to pursue the ultimate price-performance ratio and focus on online channels have performed well.

After the launch of the new flagship model K20 series under the Redmi brand, Xiaomi has established a comprehensive Redmi smartphone product portfolio that covers a wide price range. In particular, the global sales volume of the Redmi Note 7 series reached 20 million units as of the date of this announcement, achieving this milestone in only around 7 months since its launch on January 10, 2019.

In addition, the global shipments of the K20 series already recorded more than 1 million units within the first month of its launch.

On July 2, 2019, Xiaomi launched the CC series under the Xiaomi brand, which includes Mi CC9, Mi CCe9, and Mi CC9 Meitu Edition. The CC series is positioned as a fashionable series targeting younger customers. The CC series places an emphasis on being visually appealing in terms of both form and function, offering stylish product design and enhanced photography experience.

Mi CC9 Meitu Edition is a joint development with Meitu Inc. which specifically targets the female user market. Leveraging its product development and supply chain management capabilities, as well as Meitu’s image-related algorithms and its deep understanding of female users, the Mi CC9 Meitu Edition offers outstanding photographic experiences and builds a solid foundation for its ongoing expansion into more diversified user markets.

Its products have been strongly recognized by the market as a result of the successful implementation of its multi-brand strategy. The average selling price (“ASP”) of its smartphones has continued to increase, achieving year-over-year growths of 13.3% and 6.7% in mainland China and overseas markets, respectively. In Q2 2019, the revenue generated by smartphones sold for RMB2,000 or more accounted for 32.3% of the total revenue of the smartphones segment.

Following the granting of 5G business licenses in mainland China, 5G technology has officially started to be implemented for commercial use. The commercialization of 5G technology could potentially lead to a new smartphone replacement cycle and boost the overall demand of the domestic market.

Xiaomi established a research and development team back in 2016 for advanced research on 5G technology and are now well-prepared for the commercialization of 5G. The Mi MIX 3 5G, its first 5G model was already available in various European countries, and its second 5G smartphone model will also be launched in China in the second half of the year.

The gross profit margin of its smartphone segment increased from 3.3% in the first quarter of 2019 to 8.1% in Q2 2019. During the early transition period from 4G to 5G technology, Xiaomi will continue to invest in research and development of relevant technologies while remaining prudent with its cash flows and profitability.

IoT and lifestyle products

In Q2 2019, the revenue of the IoT and lifestyle products segment rose by 44.0% to RMB14.9 billion over the corresponding period of 2018. Its smart TV business continues to have a leading edge in both mainland China and overseas markets.

Global shipments of its smart TVs reached 2.7 million units, representing year-over-year growth of 41.1%. According to AVC, Xiaomi ranked 1st in terms of TV shipments in mainland China for the six months ended June 30, 2019.

Xiaomi ranked 1st in terms of smart TV shipments in India for five consecutive quarters as of the second quarter of 2019. With its efforts in expanding its smart TVs globally, Xiaomi achieved a top 5 position in terms of global TV shipments for the six months ended June 30, 2019, according to AVC.

Xiaomi has positioned large home appliances as an important element of its AIoT strategy. Xiaomi will focus on innovation and product design, offering intelligent user experiences and promoting the enhanced connectivity and compatibility of its smart home appliances.

For the six months ended June 30, 2019, the shipments of its air conditioners amounted to approximately 1 million units. At the same time, Xiaomi has also entered the smart kitchen appliances market.

In Q2 2019, Xiaomi continued to enrich its IoT product portfolio. The market share of its laptops has been steadily increasing following the launch of its new products. On May 28, 2019, the Redmi brand introduced its first 14” slim notebook and enjoyed widespread popularity.

According to IDC Consulting (Beijing), the market share of its laptops in mainland China in terms of shipments increased from 5.5% in the second quarter of 2018 to 8.7% in Q2 2019. Its Mi Band ranked 1st in the global wearables market in terms of shipments in the first quarter of 2019.

Meanwhile, the Mi Band 4 recorded shipments of more than 1 million units within 8 days of its launch on June 14, 2019. In addition, Xiaomi has also launched several new products, including its AI Translator “Xiao’Ai Teacher”, Mi Smart Door Lock and Mi Smart Combo Wash and Dryer Pro, which are supported by its AI assistant “Xiao’Ai”. These product launches illustrated its continuous
the pursuit of excellent product design and quality.

Xiaomi has continued to improve the device-to-device interaction and enhance its users’ smart home experience. For example, when a user opens the door through a Mi Smart Door Lock, its
AI assistant will welcome him/her home. At the same time, the Mi Air Purifier, Mi Air Conditioner, and other smart devices could be switched on automatically. The Mi Smart Combo Wash Dryer Pro can be operated by the voice control function through its AI assistant

Xiaomi Internet services

In the second quarter of 2019, its user base continued to expand. The MAU of MIUI rose by 34.7% year-over-year from 206.9 million in June 2018 to 278.7 million in June 2019. The MAU of MIUI in mainland China was 115.1 million in June 2019. The MAU of its smart TVs and Mi Box achieved 53.8% year-over-year growth, reaching 22.6 million in June 2019.

Revenue from its internet services segment grew by 15.7% year-over-year to RMB4.6 billion in Q2 2019. Advertising revenue slightly decreased by 0.6% year-over-year to RMB2.5 billion due to a soft mainland China advertising market, particularly due to reduced advertising spending from other internet companies which contributed a meaningful portion of its advertising revenue.

Over the course of the last few quarters, Xiaomi has continued executing its strategy to diversify its advertising customer base. Through expanding into more vertical industries, such as finance and small and medium-sized enterprises, Xiaomi is developing a more robust and healthy advertising business to capture more future growth.

Revenue from gaming decreased by 4.1% year-over-year to RMB675.1 million. However, its gaming gross profit increased to RMB408.2 million in Q2 2019 from RMB212.5 million in Q2 2018, representing an increase of 92.1%. Its gaming gross profit margin increased from 30.2% in Q2 2018 to 60.5% in Q2 2019 as Xiaomi optimized its gaming distribution and had higher gaming revenue growth from content providers with a high gross profit margin. Its other internet value-added services grew by 89.9% year-over-year to RMB1.4 billion, primarily due to the strong growth in revenue from its fintech business and Youpin e-commerce platform.

Introduction to Xiaomi’s e-commerce platform Youpin

Xiaomi has been focusing on enriching its internet services and content to strengthen its advertising business. Many of its internet services are leading on its smartphones, its Mi App Store, Mi Browser, Mi Security, and Mi Music ranked 1st and Mi Video ranked 2nd in their respective categories in mainland China in terms of MAU on its smartphones in June 2019.

Furthermore, its news feed service ranked 1st in terms of MAU on its smartphones in mainland China, reaching 71.0 million MAU in June 2019, representing a year-over-year increase of 31.0%. Its search service also ranked 1st on its smartphones in mainland China in terms of search query volume in the second quarter of 2019.

Xiaomi developed various entry points for its search function, including browser, negative one screen, launcher searchbox, and its AI assistant. Leveraging its increasingly diversified services and
multi-dimensional data, Xiaomi is able to further improve its algorithm and enhance its users’ experience. Services like news feed and search allow Xiaomi to diversify its advertising customer base.

Internet service revenue outside of advertising and gaming from mainland China smartphones, including those generated from the Youpin e-commerce platform, fintech business, TV internet services and overseas internet services, increased by 108.8% over the corresponding quarter in 2018, accounting for 36.0% of the total internet service revenue in the second quarter of 2019.

For the six months ended June 30, 2019, the gross merchandise volume (“GMV”) of its Youpin e-commerce platform grew to RMB3.8 billion, an increase of 113.9% YoY. In June 2019, more than 65% of Youpin’s GMV came from non-Xiaomi smartphone users.

Revenue from its fintech business increased to RMB792.0 million in Q2 2019, representing year-over-year growth of 62.7%. Its current fintech business focuses on consumer loans and supply chain financing. With its sophisticated risk management model and technology capability, and extensive user base and supply chain partners, Xiaomi had a solid business foundation and potential to grow. In the meanwhile, Xiaomi is also actively exploring other fintech business opportunities.

Its TV internet services are also fast-growing and increasingly diversified. TV internet services revenue is mainly generated from advertising, paid subscription, and app distribution. In June 2019, Xiaomi had over 3 million paid subscribers, representing a year-over-year increase of 83.1%. Xiaomi offers a variety of membership services, including video membership, sports memberships, and children membership. Its subscription services have expanded to other non- Xiaomi TVs to serve a wider user base.

Xiaomi’s Overseas markets

With the overseas expansion of its smartphone business, its overseas internet service revenue also increased significantly. Xiaomi continued to build and strengthen its service offerings in overseas markets. In June 2019, its browser ranked 1st among all browsers in India in terms of MAU on its smartphones. In the second quarter of 2019, the average revenue per user (“ARPU”) in overseas markets recorded a year-over-year increase of 133.0%.

Xiaomi has maintained strong growth in the overseas markets in the second quarter of 2019. Its revenue from the overseas markets grew 33.1% year-over-year to RMB21.9 billion in the second quarter of 2019.

Xiaomi will continue to build and expand its new retail channels in the overseas markets. As of June 30, 2019, there were a total of 520 Mi Home stores overseas, representing a 92.6% year-over-year growth, of which 79 stores were located in India. Furthermore, in India, Xiaomi had more than 1,790 Mi Stores that cater to tier two and rural areas of India as of June 30, 2019.

According to Canalys, in the second quarter of 2019, Xiaomi ranked among the top five in over 40 countries and regions in terms of smartphone shipments. According to IDC, its smartphones have ranked 1st in India in terms of shipments for eight consecutive quarters. In addition, according to Canalys, in Q2 2019, Xiaomi ranked 4th in terms of smartphone shipments for Western Europe, representing a year-over-year increase of 53.2%.

Xiaomi ranked 2nd in open market channels in Spain in terms of smartphone shipments in Q2 2019. Xiaomi has been developing operator channels in Europe. Its flagship smartphones, such as Mi MIX 3 and Mi 9 series, have been launched in operator channels in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland.

AIoT

In Q2 2019, Xiaomi continued the implementation of its “Smartphone + AIoT” dual-engine strategy and its AIoT platform continued to maintain its leading position. As of June 30, 2019, the number of connected IoT devices (excluding smartphones and laptops) on its IoT platform reached approximately 196 million units, representing a year-over-year increase of 69.5%.

The number of users who have five or more devices connected to Xiaomi’s IoT platform (excluding smartphones and laptops) increased to approximate 3 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 78.7%. In the six months ended June 30, 2019, the shipments of its AI speakers exceeded 4 million units.

In June 2019, its AI assistant had 49.9 million MAU, making it one of the most used AI voice interactive platforms in China. In June 2019, 45% of its AI speaker MAU used voice control to interact with their IoT devices at least once that month.

Xiaomi continued to open up its AIoT platform to build a more vibrant AIoT ecosystem. Its Mi Home app had 30.4 million MAU in the second quarter of 2019 and more than half of the MAU in mainland China were from non-Xiaomi smartphone users. Xiaomi will continue to invest in the development of its open AIoT platform to attract more third parties and users to join this AIoT platform.

The Group’s AIoT Strategy committee will further enhance the development of its AIoT technology, by building a comprehensive AIoT ecosystem, strengthening its research and development, and realizing synergies across business units to improve its smart devices’ connectivity and user experiences.

For example, Xiaomi continues to develop technologies for files to be seamlessly transferred between its smartphones and laptops, as well as for intelligent projection to be enabled between its smartphones and smart TVs.

Xiaomi’s Investments

As of June 30, 2019, Xiaomi invested in a total of over 270 companies with an aggregated book value of RMB28.7 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 20.8%. Xiaomi also expanded its investment into supply chain companies to strengthen its partnership with key component suppliers and to enhance its abilities in advanced technology sourcing and manufacturing.

As of the date of this announcement, Xiaomi invested in 12 supply chain companies. Among those, three of the investee companies were listed on the STAR Market in China. Xiaomi believes its investments not only allowed Xiaomi to establish close partnerships with the investee companies but also provided Xiaomi with recurring investment income.

In the second quarter of 2019, Xiaomi generated net gains on disposal of investments (after tax) of RMB551.8 million.

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