21st Century Economic Report: Comprehensive Report by the Institute of New Quality Productivity Research
Good morning, a new day has begun. What interesting things have happened in the technology industry in the past 24 hours? Let's take a look with 21tech.
[Giant Wind Indicator]
1. Tencent CEO Ma Huateng returns to China's richest man, with Zhang Yiming and Zhong Suisui ranking second and third respectively. On September 16th, Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed that Tencent Holdings co-founder and CEO Pony Ma has once again topped the Chinese wealth rankings, becoming the latest tech "tycoon" to achieve this feat. Specifically, Ma Huateng ranks first with a net worth of 43.6 billion US dollars (approximately 309.96 billion yuan). Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance (43 billion US dollars, currently about 305.694 billion yuan), ranked second. Zhong Suisui (42.6 billion US dollars, currently about 302.851 billion yuan) fell to third place.
2. Three sheep have been investigated. On September 17th, the Market Supervision Administration of Hefei High tech Zone issued a situation report: Recently, the live streaming sales of "Hong Kong Meicheng Mooncakes" by Three Sheep Network Technology Co., Ltd. have attracted attention. Three Sheep Network Technology Co., Ltd. has been investigated for suspected behavior of "misleading consumers" during live broadcasts, and will be dealt with in accordance with the law and regulations based on the investigation results. Our bureau, together with relevant departments, has held multiple talks to urge enterprises to regulate their business practices. We will resolutely investigate and punish any illegal and irregular behaviors that occur during enterprise live streaming sales in accordance with the law. (China National Radio)
3. Amazon CEO announces resumption of 5-day office work week and management begins layoffs. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has announced that from now until January 2nd next year, Amazon will require employees to gradually return to working five days a week before the pandemic. It is reported that Amazon had previously required employees to return to the office at least three days a week, but now Amazon plans to increase it from 3 days to 5 days, fully restoring the state before the epidemic. In addition, Andy Jassy also requested that Amazon's organization be flattened and that the ratio of IC to manager reach at least 15%. However, flat management is bound to lead to organizational mergers, with some middle-level managers losing their positions, which is also considered as Amazon's management layoffs.
4. The sales of iPhone 16 decreased by 12.7% year-on-year in its first weekend, possibly due to the failure of AI to synchronize its launch. Tianfeng International analyst Guo Mingchi said that the estimated pre order sales of the iPhone 16 series in the first weekend are about 37 million units, a year-on-year decrease of about 12.7% compared to the first weekend sales of the iPhone 15 series last year. The key is that the iPhone 16 Pro series was lower than expected. Guo Mingchi pointed out that the shipment time of iPhone 16 Pro series is significantly lower than that of 15 Pro series. In addition to the increase in stock before pre order, the key reason for the decrease in sales year-on-year in the first weekend is still lower than expected. The key reason is that Apple Intelligence, Apple's biggest selling point, cannot be launched together with iPhone 16. At the same time, the fierce competition in the Chinese market has also reduced the demand for iPhone. (Securities Times e Company)
5. It is said that ByteDance plans to cooperate with TSMC to mass produce two self-designed AI chips by 2026. On September 16, it was reported that two direct insiders said that ByteDance planned to cooperate with TSMC to mass produce two semiconductors of its own design by 2026, and it was expected that ByteDance would book the output of hundreds of thousands of chips. Insiders said that the production of these chips can reduce the dependence of ByteDance on expensive NVIDIA chips, so as to develop and run AI models. ByteDance is accelerating the pace of manufacturing its own AI chip, with a view to leading the competitors in the Chinese AI chat robot market. In the first half of this year, ByteDance denied the rumors about "cooperating with Broadcom to develop AI chips".
6. Microsoft raises its dividend and announces a stock buyback plan of up to $60 billion. On September 16th, Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, an increase of 10% from the previous quarter's dividend. In addition, Microsoft has announced a stock buyback plan of up to $60 billion. The stock repurchase plan has no expiration date and can be terminated at any time.
7. Baidu: The number of large model winning projects from January to August is five times that of last year. According to Baidu, from January to August 2024, the number of domestic large-scale model related winning projects reached 475, which is about five times the number of large-scale model winning projects for the whole year of 2023. The disclosed winning bid amount reached 1.535 billion yuan, which is about twice the disclosed amount of the large model winning project for the whole year of 2023.
8. Apple iOS 18 is officially released, and the first batch of Apple Smart features will be launched next month. On September 16th local time, Apple announced on its official website that iOS 18 will be released as a free software update, suitable for iPhone Xs and subsequent models. The first batch of features for Apple Intelligence will be officially launched next month.
9. NIO has adjusted its charging model for battery swapping services: charging by the hour, and Ledao will continue to use it for battery swapping in the future. On September 15th, NIO announced an adjustment to the charging model for battery swapping services, shifting from a "fixed price" model to a "per kilowatt hour" model. The single battery swapping fee is calculated by multiplying the electricity bill plus the service fee by the amount of electricity exchanged. The above adjustments will take effect from 00:00 on September 24, 2024. In addition, Ledao Motors will continue to use this charging model for subsequent battery replacements.
【 Core Observations 】
1. Intel will customize AI chips for Amazon. On Monday local time, Intel CEO Pat Kissinger announced in a statement that he has identified Amazon Web Services as a customer for the company's manufacturing business. According to the statement, Intel and AWS will jointly invest in a customized chip for artificial intelligence computing within a "multi-year, multi billion dollar framework". This work will rely on Intel's 18A process. Intel also hopes to accelerate the implementation of a $10 billion cost saving plan and better focus its products on the field of artificial intelligence computing. The company also plans to reduce its global real estate holdings by about two-thirds by the end of this year.
2. Apple may include the first batch of 2 nanometer production capacity from TSMC. Amidst the hot sales of the iPhone 16 series and TSMC's 3-nanometer family process, it is rumored in the industry that Apple has confirmed the subsequent production capacity of 2 nanometers from TSMC and the first batch of A16. The 2-nanometer production capacity is expected to be fully introduced for the iPhone 17 Pro as early as next year.
Listed capital flow
1. Li Feifei's AI company has raised $230 million in financing, with participation from Nvidia and others. World Labs, led by AI "godmother" Li Feifei, announced a fundraising of $230 million. The initial funding for the company was led by Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates, and Radical Ventures, with other investors including AMD Ventures, Intel Capital from Intel, and Nvidia NVVentures.
2. Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone Group are reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire Smartsheet. On September 17th, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday that Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone Group are in deep negotiations to acquire Smartsheet, which could value Smartsheet at nearly $8 billion.
New Trendy Products
Alibaba Tongyi will release a large model for video generation. It is reported that Alibaba's Tongyi will release a video generation model during the Yunqi Conference. Currently, the Tongyi App channel and Tongyi Wanxiang PC have launched a "video generation" entrance, which only supports user reservation but is not open for use. The page content shows that the newly released video generation model is independently developed by Tongyi Laboratory and includes two creation modes: "Wensheng Video" and "Tusheng Video".