Today’s headlines
Blizzard suddenly announced the cessation of cooperation, NetEase’s stock price plummeted, Ding Lei responded
On November 17th, Blizzard Entertainment announced that due to failure to renew the licensing agreement with NetEase, the company will suspend the operation of most Blizzard games in mainland China. The licensing agreement previously signed between Blizzard and NetEase will expire on January 23, 2023. At that time, Blizzard will suspend most of the Blizzard game services in mainland China.
On the same day, NetEase Hong Kong stocks plunged in early trading, and fell by as much as 14.6% in the intraday session. If the decline holds, it would be the biggest one-day drop since July 2021. NetEase’s annual report shows that in 2019, 2020, and 2021, NetEase’s revenue from agency games accounted for 7.5%, 9.1%, and 9.5% of its total revenue, respectively. Among them, agency game companies include Blizzard and Microsoft. In the past three years, NetEase has paid Blizzard 356 million yuan, 334 million yuan, and 319 million yuan in deposit licensing fees each year.
In the earnings conference call held on the 17th, Ding Lei answered the market’s concern about the termination of cooperation between Blizzard and Netease. Ding Lei said: “We very much hope to continue to represent Blizzard’s games, and we have made a lot of efforts, but in the past period of time, the difficulty of the entire negotiation has exceeded our expectations. For the sustainable operation of these games, the Chinese market As well as the key terms of the core interests of players, the demands made by Activision Blizzard are unacceptable to us.”
The reporter learned from informed sources that the main reason for the termination of the cooperation between the two parties was that the price could not be negotiated. According to this source, Blizzard’s revenue and net profit will be further increased compared with more than 50% of the 2019-2022 contract period, and Blizzard’s game pricing will adopt a global synchronization strategy, while the previous national service pricing is generally about 20% lower than other regions in the world; In addition, Blizzard also asked NetEase to follow the “Diablo: Immortal” model to develop Blizzard’s other IP mobile games for global distribution, but NetEase only enjoys the revenue share of the Chinese market. At the same time, Blizzard also requires NetEase to pay a huge deposit or prepayment to guarantee the completion of Article 2, otherwise it will be “punished”. People familiar with the matter said frankly that if the contract renewal conditions are true, Blizzard is tantamount to asking NetEase to “work for nothing”.
Domestic information
Chu Yin apologized to New Oriental: At that time, he was in a bad mood and spoke out, China needed more Dong Yuhui
According to news on November 17, Chu Yin posted a video on the evening of the 16th to apologize for his remarks against New Oriental during the live broadcast, saying that he was in a bad mood at the time, and he should not be so suspicious.
Previously, Chu Yin said that “Dong Yuhui was at the level of Reader’s Digest in the 1980s and 1990s” which caused controversy. On November 12, Professor Chu Yin commented on Dong Yuhui’s popularity and said: Dong Yuhui, who is “snow in spring”, is actually at the level of Reader’s Digest in the 1980s and 1990s. This caused dissatisfaction among Dong Yuhui’s fans. He also posted 4 articles in response to his fans: Don’t follow me in the fan circle, no matter how many mothers-in-law come, it is the same sentence, he is at the level of Reader’s Digest. Later, he responded during the live broadcast, saying that many of the violent people on the Internet were employees of New Oriental. (Tech Planet)
Alibaba releases Q2 financial report: revenue of 207.2 billion share repurchase plans to increase by another 15 billion US dollars
On the evening of November 17, Alibaba released its fiscal year 2023 Q2 financial report as of September 30, with revenue of RMB 207.176 billion (US$29.124 billion), a year-on-year increase of 3%, and operating profit of RMB 25.137 billion (US$3.534 billion). ), a year-on-year increase of 68%. Ali’s financial report also announced that it has been authorized by the board of directors to increase the existing share repurchase plan by another US$15 billion and extend the validity period until the end of March 2025.
SAIC Volkswagen is suspected of discontinuing the production of manual transmission models: the transmission company will be closed for liquidation
Recently, an internal letter from Volkswagen Transmission (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. has been circulated on the Internet. The internal letter stated that under the comprehensive consideration of the industry’s changing environment and actual business changes, SAIC Volkswagen made a decision to stop production of manual transmissions at the beginning of the year. In this context, after careful discussions between the company’s management and shareholders, it is planned to officially stop production at the end of March next year, after which the company will enter the process of closing down and liquidating.
Lantu Auto completes nearly 5 billion round A financing
On November 17, Lantu Automobile announced that it had completed the signing and delivery of the A-round leading financing agreement. This round of financing was nearly 5 billion yuan, and the market valuation after financing was nearly 30 billion yuan. 11 companies including China State-owned Enterprise Mixed Ownership Reform Fund Co., Ltd. jointly increased capital by 4.55 billion yuan, holding 15.41% of the shares. This round of financing Lantu Automobile is valued at about 29.5 billion yuan.
Weibo’s revenue in the third quarter was US$454 million, down 25% year-on-year
On November 17, Weibo released the 2022 Q3 financial report. In the third quarter, Weibo’s total revenue reached US$454 million, or about 3.151 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25%. Among them, Weibo’s advertising and marketing revenue in the third quarter of 2022 was US$393.4 million, a year-on-year decrease of 27%; value-added service revenue was 60.1 billion million, a year-on-year decrease of 14%. Weibo has concentrated resources on improving operational efficiency this year, and the company’s adjusted operating profit was US$162 million, or about 1.147 billion yuan.
More than 13.69 million properties were frozen in Youxian Daily
Recently, Beijing Yixiang Trading Co., Ltd., Beijing Daily Youxian E-Commerce Co., Ltd., and Xu Zheng’s property preservation legal documents have been made public. The documents show that the applicant Beijing Yixiang Trading Co., Ltd. applied for pre-litigation property preservation, requesting the seizure and freezing of property worth more than 13.69 million yuan under the name of the respondent Beijing Youxian E-Commerce Co., Ltd. and Xu Zheng. After examination, the court held that the applicant’s application complied with the law and ruled to enforce it. According to public information, Xu Zheng is the founder and former CEO of Daily Fresh. (First Finance and Economics)
Foxconn recruitment pre-registration has exceeded 100,000
According to media reports, as of November 17, the total number of pre-recruitment applicants for Foxconn Aviation Park exceeded 100,000, which means that the continuous and intensive Foxconn recruitment work has come to an end.
With more than 300,000 employees, Foxconn’s Zhengzhou campus is responsible for the production and assembly of nearly half of the world‘s Apple phones. At the end of October, due to the impact of the epidemic, a large number of employees of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou campus left Foxconn by long-distance walking and other means, resulting in a large shortage of front-line workers.
The first pre-litigation injunction in the field of online literature, China Literature sued UC Browser and Shenma Search for infringement
On November 17th, according to the China Copyright Association, Shanghai Xuanting Entertainment Information Technology Co., Ltd., the operator of “Qiandian Chinese Website” under China Literature, targeted a large number of infringements in “UC Browser” and “Shenma Search”. “Nomenclature” information network dissemination rights of pirated links, and recommending to users, inducing users to read pirated behaviors, applied to the Intellectual Property Court of Hainan Free Trade Port for pre-litigation behavior preservation, and was supported by the court. It is reported that this is the first pre-litigation injunction in the field of online literature. (IT House)
Dong Mingzhu’s self-media affiliates canceled
Recently, according to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, Dong Mingzhu’s self-media affiliate Zhuhai Xima Mingzhu New Media Co., Ltd. was deregistered. The reason for the deregistration was a resolution to dissolve. The company was established in October 2015. Its legal representative is Zhao Hui and its registered capital is 2 million RMB. Its business scope includes business management consulting, business planning, marketing planning, etc. It is jointly held by Dong Mingzhu, Zhao Hui and Cai Weijie. Previously, in 2016, the official WeChat account of “Dong Mingzhu We Media” was officially launched, with nearly 583,000 fans. (IT House)
Apple’s iPhone sales topped sales on Double Eleven, with a revenue share of 68%
Recently, Strategy Analytics released a report stating that the sales volume of smartphones during China’s Double Eleven online shopping festival this year was 9 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 35%. Apple solidified its leadership, with Xiaomi and Honor not far behind. According to reports, Apple ranked first in terms of sales volume share (39%) and revenue share (68%), with sales of 3.5 million units. The iPhone 14 series and iPhone 13 are the best-selling models, dominating the premium segment. In addition, Xiaomi ranked second with 31% volume share and 13% revenue share, and dominated the mid-range market. Honor replaced OPPO and ranked third with an 8% sales share, a slight increase from a year ago. In terms of revenue share, Honor ceded the third place to Huawei.
International information
Musk gives ultimatum to Twitter employees
Recently, Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to Twitter employees. He told employees in an email that they must make a choice before the evening of November 17th, Eastern Time, either accepting high-intensity long-term work or accepting severance compensation— — Three months’ severance pay. Musk said that in the future, Twitter must show an extremely iron-fisted style, “meaning that employees must maintain high-intensity work for a long time, and only outstanding performance can be considered qualified.” It is reported that Twitter employees have been told that unless there is a special exemption, they need to work at least 40 hours a week in the office.
Tiktok plans to expand the number of California teams or is contacting former Twitter engineers
According to news on November 17, according to people familiar with the matter, TikTok is planning to expand the number of California teams, and its employee size will be adjusted to 2,000. According to reports, TikTok’s internal recruiters are talking to some former Twitter engineers, and the engineers who were laid off by Meta last week are also within the scope of TikTok’s contact.
Evernote to be acquired by Italian mobile developer
On November 17th, the well-known note-taking application “Evernote” (Evernote) announced that it will be acquired by Italian mobile developer Bending Spoons, and the transaction will be carried out early next year. As part of the acquisition, Evernote will join Bending Spoons’ existing lineup of apps, which include video editing app Splice and artificial intelligence image enhancement app Remini. The Evernote CEO said the deal will allow the company to leverage Bending Spoons’ “mature application expertise and broad patented technology” so it can work on building new features.
It is reported that Alibaba will launch a cross-border overseas platform Miravia at the end of the month
News on November 17, according to foreign media reports, Alibaba will launch a new overseas platform-Miravia in Spain at the end of this month (November 30). It is reported that Miravia is a comprehensive e-commerce platform. It has launched an iOS version of the app. The functions include 20% discount for new users for the first order, daily flash sale discounts, etc. Ali is targeting the high-end market in Spain this time. The new platform will be showcased through the Mira Premiere VIP event on November 30, and its debut will be held in Madrid. (Phoenix Technology)
Jaguar Land Rover CEO to step down at the end of this year after just over 2 years
It was reported on November 17 that Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thierry Bollore resigned due to “personal reasons”, which will take effect from December 31, 2022. According to reports, the 59-year-old Bollore has worked in the Renault Group for 8 years and was appointed as the CEO of Jaguar Land Rover in September 2020. He has only been in office for 2 years. In Jaguar Land Rover’s third-quarter financial report, Bolloré had warned that the ongoing semiconductor supply crisis would take “years” to resolve against the backdrop of surging orders, rising production costs and supply chain difficulties. Before announcing his departure, Bolloré had unveiled a wide-ranging company transformation plan focused on electrifying the product line, reducing carbon emissions from operations and improving the quality of vehicles.
TikTok CEO Zhou Shouzi satirizes Musk: We don’t need to lay off half of our employees to operate efficiently
Recently, Zhou Shouzi, CEO of Douyin’s overseas version of TikTok, was asked when attending the Bloomberg Innovation Economic Forum whether TikTok could still operate effectively if it fired half of its employees like Twitter under the leadership of Musk. Zhou Shouzi said, “According to the way we organize, we don’t need to lay off half of the staff to achieve the level of efficiency we want to achieve.” When asked whether TikTok can be operated with half of the current staff, he turned the topic to appropriate personnel The configured value. TikTok has tens of thousands of employees working on content moderation, he said. Zhou Shouzi said, “If you want this platform to be a very safe platform, this is an absolutely worthwhile investment.” (Fengwang Technology)
Nvidia announces it will team up with Microsoft to develop an artificial intelligence supercomputer
Recently, Nvidia and Microsoft signed a multi-year cooperation agreement to develop an artificial intelligence supercomputer to handle intensive artificial intelligence computing work in the cloud. It is reported that this artificial intelligence computer will run on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, using tens of thousands of graphics processing units (GPU), Nvidia’s most powerful H100 and its A100 chip. Nvidia declined to disclose the value of the deal, but industry sources say the A100 chips cost around $10,000 to $12,000 per chip, while the H100s cost much more than that. In addition to selling chips to Microsoft, Nvidia said it will also work with the software and cloud computing giant on AI models. Nvidia will also become a customer of Microsoft’s AI cloud computer and develop AI applications on it to provide services to customers. (IT House)
Dell agrees to pay $1 billion to settle VMware shareholder lawsuit
On November 17, it was reported that Dell Inc. agreed to settle a lawsuit for US$1 billion, which was related to the acquisition of software company VMware that year. The case dates back to 2018, when Dell re-entered the stock exchange through a reverse merger, using “tracking stock” to represent Dell’s ownership of VMware when Dell relisted. VMware shareholders took Dell to court in 2019, arguing that Dell was trying to drive down the market valuation of the tracking stock, using strong coercive tactics to push the reverse merger deal through before most independent tracking stock shareholders approved the deal. (Sina Technology)
Qualcomm’s next-generation Arm architecture core officially exposed
On November 17, at the 2022 Snapdragon Technology Summit, Qualcomm announced the name of its next-generation custom Arm core: Oryon. It is designed to compete in the PC market with Apple’s custom M-series chips based on the Arm instruction set, but the company did not provide specifics. According to Gerard Williams, senior vice president of Qualcomm, the Snapdragon processor based on the Oryon CPU core will be delivered to customers in 2023.
The prices of memory and SSD hard drives have fallen sharply, Micron: cut production by 20%
On November 17th, Micron announced that due to sluggish demand, the company is working hard to clear inventory, and will fully shrink the production plan of DRAM memory and NAND flash memory. Starting from the Q4 quarter, Micron will directly cut production by 20%. According to Micron’s plan, after reducing production capacity, the supply of memory chips will have negative growth in 2023, and the supply of flash memory chips will also be controlled within single digits, which will be significantly lower than previous expectations. It is reported that among the current chip products, only memory and flash memory are the two major storage products whose prices have dropped sharply. During Double 11, 2TB capacity SSD hard drives even reached 600 yuan, and 8GB DDR4 singles are now casually within 200 yuan. Miscellaneous brands can even cost more than 130 yuan.
EU plans to put data center in space, powered entirely by solar panels
The European Commission (EC) is exploring new ways to reduce the climate impact of data centers and other HPC (high performance computing) facilities, and they even plan to launch data centers into space. According to its partner Thales Alenia Space, the EU already has the underlying technology that would allow such a viable deployment scenario. The EC-led feasibility study ASCEND (Advanced Space Cloud for European Net Zero Emissions and Data Sovereignty) is part of the European Union’s “Horizon Europe” program and is supported by a budget of 2 million euros (currently about 14.72 million yuan).
Nvidia faces class action lawsuit over RTX 4090 power connector issue
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card was sought after at the beginning of its release because of its high performance of 4K 144Hz. However, shortly after its launch, several self-combustion incidents occurred in succession. As of now, its officials have received multiple reports of burnt 12VHPWR 16-pin power lines. The RTX 4080 graphics card that just went on the market uses the same 12VHPWR connector and is believed to have the same hidden danger. US users have filed a class-action lawsuit against Nvidia on this issue. Nvidia said this week that it was still investigating the issue and was unable to provide more information at this time.
Wingtech Technology said it received a notice to divest 86% of NWF’s equity
On the evening of November 17, Wingtech Technology announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nexperia Semiconductors, received a formal notification from the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, requiring Nexperia Semiconductors to divest at least 86% of NWF within a certain period of time in accordance with the corresponding procedures. equity. The full name of NWF is Newport Wafer Fab. It is the largest chip manufacturing plant in the UK. It mainly produces automotive-grade products and is used in the automotive field. In the latest announcement, Wingtech stated that since the new transferee and the transaction price method have not yet been determined, there are uncertainties in the impact on the company’s financial data in the subsequent transfer of NWF. If the final transfer price is lower than the company’s purchase price, it may cause investment losses to the company, but it will not have a major impact on the company. (First Finance and Economics)
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