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"2026 is the first year of global autonomous driving. The L3 level is the necessary stage to move towards fully autonomous driving, and there is no way to skip it." On April 11, Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei Smart Car Solutions BU, stated this when talking about autonomous driving at the Smart Electric Vehicle Development Forum (2026).

There are different opinions in the market on whether the L3 level should be skipped in the development process of autonomous driving.

He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng Motors, has stated in public many times that he supports autonomous driving skipping L3. He said: "With today's global technological development, basically the next step up from L2 is L4, with an L3 added in the middle. This actually poses challenges to hardware, software, and laws and regulations."

To this end, He Xiaopeng also submitted relevant suggestions at this year's Two Sessions, which mentioned that the window period for global autonomous driving policies and regulations is rapidly narrowing, and the United Nations and the United States are accelerating the implementation of regulations and mass production deployment bills for L3 and above autonomous driving.

In this context, he believes that promoting autonomous driving from L2 to L3 and directly to L4 is not only a choice of technical route, but also a systematic upgrade of the institutional system, regulatory environment and governance capabilities. Accelerating the breakthrough of key institutional bottlenecks that restrict industrial development will help China's intelligent connected vehicles and autonomous driving industries gain strategic initiative in global competition.

Chinese automobile safety expert Zhu Xishan also made it clear in an interview with the media that he supports skipping the L3 level. He further explained the reason: "The L3 level allows the driver to escape with conditions. He can escape with his eyes and hands, but not his brain. But the question is, can the driver be required to escape with his eyes and hands but not his brain? This assumption may not be true."

But in Jin Yuzhi’s view, from a regulatory perspective, L3’s transfer of responsibility from car owners to manufacturers/solution providers is a key transition period for the compliance and insurance systems. Therefore, he suggested accelerating the opening of L3 to all C-side scenarios, first verifying L4 technology in B-side scenarios such as Robotaxi and limited low-speed scenarios, and steadily promoting unmanned technology.

At present, the domestic regulations regarding L3 level conditionally autonomous passenger vehicles on the road are mainly the "Beijing Regulations on Autonomous Vehicles". The regulations have been implemented on April 1, 2025, providing institutional specifications for L3 and above, clarifying that the manufacturer is primarily responsible for accidents caused by system defects. In addition, Chongqing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai have also successively introduced relevant regulations on intelligent connected vehicle testing.

On an international scale, autonomous driving laws and regulations are also being introduced one after another. Previously, in 2021, the German Federal Motor Transport Administration allowed L3 level self-driving cars to drive on the highway, but there were also restrictions. For example, the speed was not higher than 60km/h, hands could be freed but could not sleep, and a person was required to take over the driving rights of the vehicle if necessary. If an accident occurs under specified conditions, the responsibility lies with the OEM. Japan’s Road Traffic Law stipulates in terms of insurance and liability that drivers still have the obligation to drive safely during L3 autonomous driving. If the driver fails to switch to manual driving mode in time as required by the system due to factors such as drowsiness or drinking, causing an accident, he will bear criminal liability. In addition, when an accident occurs due to an obvious failure such as incorrect operation of the system, the vehicle manufacturer may be liable for negligence.

"Longing for Life" is actually back. The eighth season has started recording, and it's still the same cast.

He Jiong, Huang Lei, Peng Yuchang, and Zhang Zifeng were confirmed to be permanent residents. Before the show even started, people started naming domestic entertainment stars to participate in the show.

Some netizens are relatively normal and hope that the program team will invite some old friends to record.

There are also people who are watching the fun and don't think it's a big deal, and actually want the program crew to invite "Wolf Warrior" Wu Jing over.

The reason is for no other reason than to see who can be better if "Deadly Poison Master" and "Tank Master" are in the same frame?

All I can say is that the person who made this suggestion really doesn’t care about the life or death of the audience!

When it comes to the "crouching dragon and phoenix chicks" of domestic entertainment, it is none other than Huang Lei and Wu Jing.

Because both of them have big coffee positions and have a good reputation in the past.

However, in the past two years, his popularity has plummeted, and he has made a lot of jokes, becoming the target of ridicule among netizens.

However, an entertainment industry cannot have two cruelest men, so we still have to choose who is the "King of Pretenders"?

Don't worry, look down.

01 Equally ridiculous, a middle-aged man’s self-pleasure

If you want to compare who is more "powerful" between Wu Jing and Huang Lei, you can't just start from one angle, but have to compete in many aspects.

For example, someone might say: "Wu Jing jumped over a building, did you, Huang Lei, jump over? Wu Jing almost died, but did you, Huang Lei, die?"

Face to face, right? Who do you look down on?

I thought Teacher Huang might have to smile scornfully and take out the videotape for us to relive the "Poisonous Bean Incident" again.

That day, Huang Lei's record was one to two.

Because not only did he almost poison himself to death, but he also directly put Song Dandan and her son in harm's way.

All I can say is that when it comes to life and death, neither of them is afraid!

Next, let’s take a look at their control of “armed equipment.”

Wu Jingke once said: "Tanks don't have rear-view mirrors, guns don't have eyesight, and black guys don't understand the language."

No matter how powerful Huang Lei is, can he understand the power of overheated weapons?

But no matter how good Wu Jing is, have you ever directed Liu Guoliang to play table tennis?

On the night of "Longing for Life", I think it was the closest Liu Guoliang was to the "God of Table Tennis".

Because of Huang Lei's guidance, he realized that skills were nothing at all in the later stage. I don't know if he questioned his persistence all the way before going to bed.

No matter what, Huang Lei's "achievement" in table tennis is obviously higher than Liu Guoliang's.

Because of the former's confidence, everyone else at the scene lost confidence.

Sometimes I really wonder what else a person like Huang Lei who is "proficient" in everything can't do?

I think the only thing Huang Lei doesn't do is get lost in his box office results like Wu Jing, mainly because the former has no box office results.

In fact, the two people are equally ridiculous, and the more they look at each other, the more ridiculous they become.

But you will find that they are not alone. This kind of arrogant, middle-aged man who likes to teach others and likes to talk is probably around you.

He may be your leader, boyfriend, or elder.

With the development of the times, young people are unwilling to continue to tolerate these outrageous behaviors and remarks, which naturally puts two famous and prestigious actors at the forefront of public opinion.

Huang Lei's turmoil has gradually subsided, but now Wu Jing's turmoil has just begun.

I think it will be difficult for him to regain his popularity for a while. After all, the situation is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change!

02 Vanity and arrogance, Jet Li’s advice is indeed correct

You will find that Wu Jing has many problems that middle-aged men have. He is very vain and likes to pretend too much.

What he experienced did exist, but it was not so exaggerated.

For example, "Tanks don't have rear-view mirrors." This is true because there is no need to use rear-view mirrors at all.

Also, "Guns don't have eyesight." This sentence is also true, but he will definitely not use real guns and live ammunition when filming.

As for the black guy’s language barrier, what about it? Anyway, there is a translator on site.

The way Wu Jing speaks is to satisfy his own vanity and portray himself as an omnipotent true wolf warrior.

It's a pity that in this era, the celebrities that netizens cannot accept the most are those who are flamboyant and pretentious and not down to earth.

The reason why Wu Jing's past remarks were revealed and aroused public ridicule was because he brought it upon himself, as he just echoed that sentence——

It’s not that I don’t want to report it, it’s that the time has not come yet.

Moreover, he is becoming more and more knowledgeable as a person.

For example, he once claimed to be a descendant of Dorgon of the Manchu Zhengbai Banner, but in fact, Dorgon had no sons at all.

He also said that his ancestors had several martial arts champions, but there were a total of 109 martial arts champions in the entire Qing Dynasty.

Only three of them were from the Eight Banners of Manchuria, while two were from the Zhenghuang Banner and one was from the Zhenghong Banner, but there was no Zhengbai Banner.

Therefore, Wu Jing's "consciousness of identity privilege" has also been criticized by netizens.

However, in the final analysis, his current appeal is no longer enough.

If the work cannot hold up the reputation, it will inevitably be hacked.

No, the movie "Goodbye, Bad Guy" produced by his company has only been released for 6 days at the end of the summer season, with a box office of only about 270,000. Seeing that there is no hope of counterattack, it has been withdrawn and ran away.

Wu Jing was originally at the forefront of public opinion, but this time the new movie overturned, causing dissatisfaction among the audience.

In fact, he cannot blame anyone else for his current situation. He can only blame himself for being too arrogant and having no connotation to support his fame.

Wu Jing has been practicing in a martial arts school since he was a child. He has good talent and works hard in filming. However, he lacks the blessing of cultural background. If he talks less and films more, it may not have much impact. However, his personality is too flamboyant.

Moreover, Jet Li had previously warned Wu Jing to "keep his tail between his legs", but unfortunately the latter didn't know how to keep a low profile.

Sometimes people still have to learn to do their jobs down-to-earth, keep their eyes on the ground, and never forget who they are.

03 Conclusion

Is Wu Jing the second Huang Lei?

Judging from the plummeting reputation, he does have this potential.

But it is not impossible for two people to save the situation and regain the goodwill of the audience.

Especially Wu Jing, after all, he really has achievements and has found his own direction in the film field. As long as he produces excellent works, he can naturally stop the public's mouths.

It's just that his new film "Dragon: The Wind Rises in the Desert" has gone through a turmoil of casting changes. The filming of "Wolf Warrior 3" has not yet started, and it is difficult to produce good works to satisfy netizens for a while.

At this time, he could only keep a low profile.

Or find another way and form the "Wu Lei CP" with Huang Lei, and have a dream linkage in the eighth season of "Longing for Life".

Maybe it can achieve the effect of making negatives out of positives. After all, this generation of netizens still prefer to be more abstract, and learning to laugh at oneself is a great wisdom.

So do you think Huang Lei is more awesome, or Wu Jing is more "powerful"?

The wealthy families at the end of the year are too lively. The latest masterpiece "Macau 2049" directed by Zhang Yimou is currently at the MGM Theater in Macau, and the stage effect is amazing.

But when I thought about it, it seemed that this performance was performed by Zhang Yimou himself, so it didn't seem so shocking. After all, his ability is at the level of a household name.

In this performance, we once again saw the aesthetic level of the "National Master", which perfectly combines modern technology with intangible cultural heritage. It is dazzling and full of freshness.

For the audience, it is simply a visual feast!

However, many people may not know that the real mastermind behind the event is Chaoqiong Ho, chairman and executive director of MGM China Holdings Limited.

In other words, this is a performance funded by her and contributed by Zhang Yimou.

The effect of the first performance is so amazing, and the follow-up will definitely boost the economy and make a lot of money.

Of course, in order to build momentum for the event, it was natural to invite some big names in the industry to appear, and with the reputation of He Chaoqiong and Zhang Yimou, many guests did come to the scene, and their status in the world was fully reflected when they were in the same frame.

01 It’s too realistic to serve food to others

There were many "old acquaintances" of the audience at this event, and the appearance of the best actor Zhang Yi gave everyone a big surprise.

He was also quite low-key that day, wearing a black shirt and jacket. He was dressed inconspicuously, but he had a sense of integrity within the system.

In fact, in this kind of situation, his status is really not that big, especially when standing next to Emperor's big boss Yang Shoucheng, he has to act like a junior.

Zhang Yi leaned forward slightly, not knowing what he was talking about. He gave Yang Shoucheng a thumbs up, with an expression of admiration and admiration, and directly grasped the four words "human feelings and sophistication".

In addition, Zhang Guoli, Pan Binlong and others also came to the scene.

However, they are still not qualified to integrate into the conversations of Zhang Yimou, He Chaoqiong and others.

In the camera, Zhang Guoli turns around and greets others. After all, he is an experienced actor and has a certain status in domestic entertainment. There are still others who are willing to give him face. If he cannot squeeze into the circle of big shots, he will not be left alone.

In contrast, Pan Binlong, who had no background, was really embarrassed. He stood there at a loss, watching Zhang Yimou speak helplessly, and did not even dare to approach him.

But the most important thing is that people have self-awareness, and it is not a bad thing to be able to keep oneself in peace.

02 C position is undoubtedly

In addition to celebrities, the most people present were people from wealthy circles.

No, Huo Zhenting came with his son Huo Qigang and daughter-in-law Guo Jingjing.

The 78-year-old Huo Zhenting is now gray-haired, but he is still domineering and looks more and more like Mr. Huo Yingdong.

It can be seen that Huo Qigang's food is good and his life is quite happy recently, and his whole person seems to be fuller again.

Seeing the audience at the scene, he did not have the airs of a wealthy young man. Instead, he greeted everyone enthusiastically and smiled in a very friendly way.

As for Guo Jingjing, she still looks like an elegant and decent wealthy lady, standing next to Huo Qigang, with gentle eyes and relaxed posture. She must have adapted to such an occasion.

However, during the group photo, the Huo family still had to give up the C position for the "main celebrity".

The person standing in the middle was He Chaoqiong, the owner of the organizer of the night.

In addition to being the chairman of MGM, since the death of the gambling king, He Chaoqiong has also taken over most of his business empire and has long become a hot capital tycoon in Macau. There is no doubt about this C position.

As a paid director, Zhang Yimou could only stand on the right side of He Chaoqiong, and on the left was Guo Jingjing.

That's right, it's not Huo Qigang. After all, everyone knows who is the real social responsibility in their family.

Who said "there are many wealthy families, but there is only one Guo Jingjing".

Huo Zhenting did not compete with his juniors for position. He stood beside Zhang Yimou in a low-key manner. The aura around him was hard to ignore.

In comparison, the least imposing person in this group photo is Zhang Yimou. He is hunched over and has his hands folded on his chest. He seems to be overly humble. It seems that in front of capital, no matter how powerful a director is, he is just a worker. He has to bow his head when he should.

03 The heroine of life

Watching He Chaoqiong always straighten her back among a group of men, chatting and laughing, I couldn't help but feel the heroine in her.

Among the many children of the gambling king, He Chaoqiong is the best, and he showed good business talent when he was young.

Therefore, Stanley Ho loves this daughter very much and is quite satisfied. He once publicly stated that "among all the daughters, Pansy (He Chaoqiong's English name) is the most similar to me."

In 2011, 49-year-old He Chaoqiong served as the chairman and executive director of MGM China. Her net worth has exceeded 5 billion, and the return on investment has been as high as 18 times. She has long surpassed her father's performance and is known as the "Queen of Gambling" in Macau.

Looking back on He Chaoqiong's life, one word can describe it as "fighting".

She has made a name for herself in her career, and with her strength, she has removed the label of the gambling king's daughter, allowing the public to remember her original name.

It's a pity that despite her successful career, she has never met a suitable partner in love.

The love story between her and singer Chen Baiqiang is still hard to understand. It can only be said that the right pair did not meet at the right time.

Later, she was forced into a wealthy marriage and married Xu Jinheng, the son of Xu Shixun, a shipping king. This was also a wrong choice, and the relationship ended in divorce.

Today, He Chaoqiong is still alone, but looking at her glorious state, one can't help but reflect on whether marriage is really important to women?

With He Chaoqiong's status and achievements, her life is already very complete. Love is just a tonic, cherish it if you have it, and don't force it if you don't have it.

04 Conclusion

This time, the stage of "Macau 2049" allowed the audience to see Zhang Yimou's still-lasting strength. He Chaoqiong invited him to be the director, which is indeed the right person.

The cooperation between the two will also bring greater business benefits to Macau in the future, which can be described as a win-win cooperation project.

In such a big occasion, the audience also saw the status gap between wealthy families and the entertainment industry. Actors who are usually glamorous are nothing more than that in front of capital.

No wonder everyone wants to be a rich man.

However, a wealthy family is actually a wealthy family in nature. Without an outstanding person in power like He Chaoqiong, I am afraid there would not be the current scene.

I think many people will admire such a legendary woman.

So what do you think about this?

In 2025, Semir Apparel handed over an annual report card that seemed stable at first glance: revenue remained at 15 billion yuan, an increase of 3.17 percentage points.

In a year when overall consumption is under pressure, it is not easy to maintain scale.

But if you look away from revenue, the real changes in this company occur on the other side. In addition to low single-digit growth in revenue, net profit attributable to the parent company, earnings per share, total assets, and net assets attributable to shareholders of listed companies all recorded negative growth.

Behind the increase in revenue but not profit is: franchise stores continue to have net outflows, direct sales revenue has increased by more than 30% year-on-year, and sales expense rates have increased. The income is still there, but the price that needs to be paid in exchange for this income is no longer the same.

The company is using higher costs to maintain what it built two decades ago.

How do the neighbors of Baleno survive today?

Semir's early success was actually not that complicated.

In 1996, Qiu Guanghe started in Wenzhou, using the franchise chain model. Most of the store's rent, decoration, and inventory are borne by franchisees. The headquarters charges brand fees and product price differences, leveraging an extremely wide channel network with extremely low own assets.

The elegance of this model is that expansion requires almost no additional capital, the risk is spread among thousands of franchisees, and the headquarters reaps the bargaining power of scale.

There is still a gap in the low-tier market. User acquisition depends on store density. Opening a new store means adding a new batch of customers. The logic was almost impeccable at first.

That is also a very typical dividend of the times. There is room for channels, consumption is growing, and competition is not yet too fierce. "Opening a store" is almost equal to "having customers", and expansion is almost equal to "growth".

At first it was Semir’s casual wear. In its early days, Semir's positioning of "comfortable experience and quality life" attracted many young people in the face of the then "street fighters" Baleno and Giordano.

But by 2010, the space for casual wear began to narrow, and competition turned from incremental to stock. Qiu Guanghe’s children’s clothing brand Balabala began to take over the “big stick” of growth.

Qiu Guanghe's eyes were very vicious. As early as 2002, he saw a gap in the children's clothing market, advocated professionalism, fashion, and vitality, and aimed at well-off families in middle-income families.

At that time, China's children's clothing market was extremely low-concentration, with messy products and a brand vacuum. Balabala uses chain franchising and uses similar channel genes as casual clothing to rapidly replicate and expand.

China's children's consumer market began to expand rapidly in the mid-2010s. At that time, China was experiencing the peak of newborns. The two-child policy coupled with consumption upgrades meant that post-80s parents who were willing to spend money on their children needed branded children's clothing.

Semir Clothing has taken another "hitchhike".

The shift to children's clothing business is particularly important for Semir Apparel. It is more like a structural correction.

Semir Apparel's core business, casual apparel, is essentially a typical cyclical business: affected by fashion, with obvious fluctuations and strong substitution. Such companies are not scarce in the capital market, and it is difficult to obtain stable valuation expectations.

Barabara changed that. Children's clothing consumption is closer to immediate needs, with higher repurchase frequency and longer life cycle. It provides Semir with a more stable source of income and allows the company to move from an "apparel company" to a "consumer products company."

In 2011, Semir Apparel was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. As a core asset, Balabala is a solid backing for its successful listing. From 2015 to 2019, Semir Apparel’s operating income grew at double digits.

The environment begins to change

2020 will be a turning point for Semir Apparel’s performance.

That year, Semir's apparel operating revenue was 15.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 21.37%, and its net profit was 806 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 48%. The net profit was almost halved.

Change doesn't happen suddenly.

The franchise system is an advantage in the expansion stage, but when the market enters stock competition, this system begins to expose its other side: difficult management, uneven efficiency, and weak brand execution.

For a brand trying to move up, this is a real hurdle.

So Semir began to shrink franchises and expand direct sales. In 2025, the company closed 163 directly operated stores and opened 211 new ones; it closed 1,236 franchise stores and opened 848 new ones.

During the period, the revenue growth rate brought by the direct operation model reached 30.25%, the revenue brought by franchise stores decreased by more than 5 percentage points compared with the previous year, and online sales revenue increased by 4.50%.

Increasing direct sales gives Semir greater control over channels and makes brand execution more unified.

But there's a trade-off: It's a heavier set of business.

The essence of franchising is to transfer fixed costs such as rent and labor. Once it changes to direct operation, store rent, shopping guide salary, and inventory risk will all fall back on the company.

The larger the scale, the more obvious this weight becomes.

At the same time, traffic is becoming more expensive.

In the past, stores were the entrance to traffic. Things are different now. Consumers are spending more and more time on their mobile phones, on short video platforms, and on various content. The store is still there, but it is no longer an entrance, it is just a conversion scene.

Traffic on social/e-commerce platforms is becoming more and more expensive, and it has become a continuously rising item in sales expenses.

In 2025, Semir Clothing's sales expenses will reach 4.235 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.88%, mainly due to the increase in online platform shipping fees and the corresponding increase in expenses for newly opened offline stores in this period.

The increase in traffic costs is actually a change in the form of channel costs. In the past, it was rent, but now it is traffic price. It’s just that the latter is more uncontrollable and unpredictable.

Children's clothing, a trump card, is also a focus point

If only the cost structure is changing, it can be said to be a "transformation pain" and it is an acceptable transition.

But there's another thing that makes the problem even harder to deal with: dependence on children's clothing.

In 2025, Semir's children's clothing revenue will be 10.8 billion yuan, accounting for more than 71% of the overall revenue, and its proportion of total revenue has quietly increased by 1.36 percentage points.

Coupled with the two authorized businesses of ASICS Kids and PUMA Kids, the entire group's business focus is almost entirely concentrated on children's consumption.

From a strategic logic point of view, this is a deliberate choice.

Balabala has achieved the largest scale in the domestic children's clothing market, and its brand recognition and channel coverage have reached a certain level. The judgment itself of concentrating resources on this strongest line and cultivating it deeply rather than spreading it out makes sense.

But this also means that all external pressures will be concentrated on children’s consumption. There is no other business curve to cushion, no other categories to hedge costs.

The demand for children's clothing market has gone through two stages in the past ten years: first, the incremental period driven by demographic dividend, and then the quality improvement driven by consumption upgrade. Balabala has experienced both stages.

But now is the third stage.

Declining birth rates, intensified consumption stratification, and intensified competition among domestic and foreign brands are not structural trends that a company can fight against. As a result, those problems that originally belonged to "industry changes" will directly become Semir's problems.

Balabala general manager Will said in an interview that the declining birth rate is actually a reshuffle in the industry, and "the next competitive focus of children's clothing is whether it can truly understand the parent-child relationship in this era."

Behind this is Balabala's ability to seize the changes in the children's clothing market. Children's clothing is no longer just for children's consumption, but a part of family relationships. It began to introduce narratives of companionship, growth and interaction into its products and marketing, trying to embed itself in family relationships.

But this understanding is still superficial.

It is more like inheriting a set of mainstream consensus that has been formed and covering different families and different scenarios as much as possible, rather than proactively proposing a more distinct value position. The result is that the expression is broad enough, but not deep enough; the coverage is broad enough, but it is difficult to form a stronger identity.

The lack of a clear position is bound to make it difficult to establish stronger recognition and premium. This also allows a variable that could have become a "new moat" to remain in the "marketing language" stage for the time being.

It's changing its way of life, but it hasn't fully adapted yet

Judging from its actions, Semir is not a company that is blind to changes.

Shrinking franchising and expanding direct sales is to solve the problem of channel control; increasing sales investment is responding to the migration of traffic entrances; deepening the focus on children's clothing is concentrating resources in the most advantageous direction.

Semir has also invested in mid- to high-end brands.

Semir Apparel's cooperative brands include Jason Wu and SHUKU, and it has established joint ventures with the two brands respectively. In addition, in addition to Asics Kids and Puma Kids, Semir Clothing also has a Nordic fashion lifestyle brand Marc O' Polo.

These judgments, taken individually, all make sense.

But there is a question that, taken together, remains unanswered: If it no longer relies on low-cost expansion, what exactly is the core advantage of this business?

This is not a question that can be answered with a strategy document, it needs to be proven with real business results.

Is it product power? Then there needs to be visible investment and differentiation in design, research and development, and fabrics, so that consumers can actively choose Balabala at the same price, not because "the store is close to home."

Is it brand power? Then it is necessary to achieve a certain level of emotional resonance and mental occupation, so that "buying clothes for children" becomes a habitual cognition, rather than a choice that can be replaced at any time.

Is it a user relationship? Then we need a consumer operation system that can continue to accumulate and be activated repeatedly, so that every parent who buys Balabala will have a higher repurchase rate and stronger brand stickiness.

Semir is doing all three of these things. But to what extent it has been achieved and how many real barriers to competition it has created are still unclear.

Before this answer appears, all it can do is maintain its current scale and position at a higher cost. It's a working business, but not an easy one.

Although it has not entered a real crisis, Semir Apparel is getting further and further away from that period of easier "counting money". Not into a real crisis, but it's moving further and further away from that easier period.

On April 9, market research organization Omdia released the global PC market report for the first quarter of 2026. Data show that in the first quarter of 2026, the global PC market increased by 3.2% year-on-year to 64.8 million units. In the market segments, notebook computers (including mobile workstations) increased by 2.6% year-on-year to 50.8 million units. Desktop computers (including desktop workstations) performed even more strongly, increasing by 5.4% year-on-year to 14 million units. The overall market showed a phased recovery trend.

The growth drivers mainly come from three aspects: first, manufacturers and channels prepare stocks in advance to cope with rising costs; second, the Windows 10 replacement cycle continues to promote corporate procurement; third, the pace of new product releases in spring is accelerated, driving the release of phased demand.

But the foundation for this growth is not solid. Omdia chief analyst Ben Yeh pointed out that as supply chain pressure continues to rise, the first quarter may become the high point of shipment performance for the whole year. From a cost perspective, AI data centers have continued to intensify their use of resources since 2025, causing memory and storage prices to rise approximately five times and three times respectively, and are expected to rise further in the second quarter of 2026. At the same time, Intel and AMD also expect CPU prices to rise by 10% to 25%, further compressing the profit margins of machine manufacturers.

By region, cost pressure in North America is borne more by channel vendors than by end customers. The decline in the Japanese market is more significant, which may be due to the high shipment base in the first quarter of 2025, as well as the high cost and parts supply pressure in the education field. The momentum is no longer the same as in 2025; the weakening of policy momentum may also become one of the main factors for the shrinkage of the Japanese market in 2026.

Judging from the ranking, Lenovo continued to rank first with 16.5 million units shipped, with a market share of more than 25%, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%, further consolidating its advantages in commercial and global channel capabilities; HP declined year-on-year due to weak demand in Europe and the United States. 4.9%, with a market share of 12.14 million units, accounting for 18.7%, maintaining second place; Dell increased by 7.8% year-on-year, with shipments reaching 10.29 million units, ranking third with a 7.8% share; Apple benefited from MacBook Driven by Air and new products, it achieved a growth of 5.4%, with shipments reaching 7.11 million units, and a market share of 5.4%, ranking fourth. ASUS maintained double-digit growth, with shipments reaching 4.6 million units, and a market share of 7.1%, ranking fifth.

Global PC shipments in the first quarter of 2026 Omdia

Mainland China's PC market will also show the impact of shifting demand and rising costs. According to Omdia data, for the whole of 2025, China's PC market will grow by 6% year-on-year to 42.1 million units, mainly supported by consumer subsidy policies and commercial demand. However, in 2026, as the subsidy intensity drops from about 30% to about 15%, and quotas and phased distribution mechanisms are introduced, Omdia predicts that China's PC market is expected to decline by 10% year-on-year to 37.9 million units in 2026, entering a typical "post-subsidy cycle."

Broken down into brands, in the fourth quarter of 2025 in mainland China's PC market, Lenovo ranked first with 4.6 million units shipped, with a market share of 40%, a year-on-year increase of 13%; Huawei ranked second with 1.3 million units shipped, with a market share of 11%, a year-on-year increase of 16%. HP ranked third with 1.2 million units shipped, with a market share of 10%, a year-on-year increase of 22%. iSoftStone shipped 900,000 units, with a market share of 8%, but fell 20% year-on-year, ranking fourth; Apple shipped 700,000 units, occupying 6% of the market share, growing 14% year-on-year, ranking fifth.

Mainland China PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2025 Omida

Overall, the PC market in 2026 is changing from demand-driven to cost- and structure-driven. The global market will still have shipment support in the short term, but cost pressures will gradually emerge; the Chinese market is the first to enter an adjustment cycle and needs to find a new growth balance between subsidies and falling demand. The key to the future competitive landscape lies in whether manufacturers can control costs while strengthening AI capabilities and product structures to stimulate market vitality.

At the time of the Hong Kong IPO, Baiwei Storage’s “patent litigation battle” escalated again.

On the evening of April 8, Baiwei Storage announced that the company had recently received a "Response Notice" from the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court. Emtier Storage Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Emtier Company") filed a lawsuit with the court over two disputes over infringement of invention patent rights. The plaintiff requested compensation of 50 million yuan.

According to the announcement, this case is two new patent lawsuits based on the same patent package, involving eMMC standard products. As early as 2025, Emtier has initiated two invention patent lawsuits against Baiwei Storage, and the court proceedings have been opened in April this year. This new lawsuit means that the litigation tug-of-war between the two parties has intensified.

Regarding the new lawsuits, Baiwei Storage stated in the announcement that after preliminary assessment, the above-mentioned lawsuits will not have a significant adverse impact on the company's production, operations and financial status. At the same time, as of the announcement, the two lawsuits have not yet been heard.

For Baiwei Storage, this is a critical period.

This semiconductor memory company submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2025. It is still in the process of Hong Kong stock IPO, which is an important period for the impact of listing. At the same time, the patent lawsuit filed by Emtier targets Baiwei Storage's R&D capabilities and the "gold content" of its patents. This is a "cut to the core" accusation for the semiconductor industry, which already values ​​these two elements.

In addition, according to the 2025 financial report data just released by Baiwei Storage, the company's net profit attributable to the parent company last year was 853 million yuan. According to the plaintiff's compensation amount of 50 million, it has exceeded 5% of the net profit attributable to the parent company last year. The potential risk is that if the plaintiff is supported, it will not be ruled out that other companies will also initiate compensation lawsuits against the patent, which will cause continuous erosion of the company's profits.

Behind the plaintiff lies an industry rival

Baiwei Storage is a well-known semiconductor storage company in China. It was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. Its main business includes the research and development, production and sales of semiconductor memories. Its main products and services are semiconductor storage solutions and advanced packaging and testing services, which are used in servers/data centers, smartphones, tablets, computers and other industries as well as in the field of personal mobile storage.

The company will be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board at the end of 2022, and leading companies such as OPPO, VIVO, Lenovo, Meta, Google, Alibaba, and Xiaomi are its customers in different product fields. According to earlier financial report data, Baiwei Storage will only turn losses into profits in 2024, and will achieve revenue of 11.3 billion yuan and net profit attributable to the parent company of 850 million yuan in 2025, a profit increase of more than 465%.

It is worth noting that standing behind the plaintiff is Longsys, also a leading company in the semiconductor storage industry. The litigation "confrontation" during the IPO period will undoubtedly further intensify the competition between the two parties.

If you look through the equity of the plaintiff Emtier, you will find that this company has only two shareholders. Among them, the American company Memory Technologies LLC (hereinafter referred to as "MTL") holds 51% of the shares, and Shenzhen Anjiecun Electronics Co., Ltd. holds 49% of the shares.

Information shows that Shenzhen Anjiecun is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Longsys. In other words, the main party in the lawsuit against Baiwei Storage is Longsys's grandson company.

Baiwei Storage also mentioned in the announcement that MTL is marked as a Patent Assertion Entity (that is, a company that mainly obtains income through patent licensing or patent litigation) in patent litigation databases such as Unified Patents Portal. The company is in active licensing negotiations for the patent package held by MTL. During the negotiation process, the owner of a small number of patents in the patent package was changed to Emtier, the plaintiff in the above two cases.

A lawyer engaged in patent litigation in East China said that there are indeed some companies in the technology industry that hold patents that are relatively important or have relatively wide coverage in the industry: "As long as you are engaged in this industry, you cannot circumvent its patented technology. Therefore, many industry companies must obtain patent licenses from this company, or this company can obtain benefits through continuous appeals for compensation."

The specific patents involved this time are two patents in one patent package, both involving the expanded utilization area of ​​storage devices. The original applicant of one of the patents was MTL, and the original applicant of the other patent was Nokia. Both were later transferred to Emtier, and the patent expiration dates are January 30, 2029.

This situation is similar to the lawsuit filed by Yuanxuzhi Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yuanxuzhi Company") in June last year.

According to the announcement at the time, Yuanxuzhi also filed a lawsuit against Biwin Storage for two disputes over infringement of invention patent rights. The patents involved also involved Biwin eMMC products. The original applicants for the patents were Nokia Corporation, and were later transferred to MTL, Longsys Electronics (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., and Emtier Corporation.

Two months before Yuanxuzhi filed a lawsuit against Baiwei Storage, Emtier had just signed a "Patent Implementation License Contract" with Yuanxuzhi, licensing the patent to Yuanxuzhi for use.

However, the expiration date of this patent is November 27 this year, and the time of prosecution is closer to the expiration date of the patent. At the same time, the amount of compensation requested by Yuanxuzhi at that time was 1.2169 million yuan, which was far lower than the amount of compensation demanded in the recent lawsuit.

This lawsuit was withdrawn in September last year, but not long after, Emtier again sued the court for the same invention patent dispute. The lawsuit was heard on April 2 and 3 this year.

Litigation directly hits the "vital gate" of listing

Regarding the impact of new lawsuits on the company, Baiwei Storage stated in the announcement that during the licensing negotiation process for the patents involved, the company always adhered to the FRAND principle (the principle of fairness, reasonableness, and non-discrimination), actively cooperated with the negotiations, showed full goodwill and willingness to cooperate, and made no obvious mistakes.

At the same time, the company believes that the amount of damages claimed by the plaintiffs in the two cases involved in this announcement lacks evidence support, and it is expected that the litigation will not have a significant adverse impact on the company's profits for the current and subsequent periods.

Baiwei Storage added in the announcement that the plaintiff's current compensation amount is 50 million yuan. According to the "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China", if the loss of the right holder, the benefits obtained by the infringer and the patent license fee are difficult to determine, the people's court can determine the compensation to be between 30,000 yuan and 5 million yuan based on factors such as the type of patent right, the nature and circumstances of the infringement.

In this regard, the above-mentioned intellectual property lawyer said that as for the amount of compensation for infringement of patent property rights, the court must first determine whether it actually constitutes infringement: "After determining the infringement, it also depends on the contribution rate of the infringing patent to the overall product, the duration of the infringement, and how much of the technology is publicly available on the market."

He also mentioned that if the defendant has benefited greatly from patent infringement, then it does not rule out the possibility of exceeding the 5 million statutory compensation amount stipulated in the Patent Law: "It mainly depends on how much evidence the plaintiff has."

Since Baiwei Storage is in the critical period of the Hong Kong IPO, it is being sued in court for patent infringement. Whether it will affect its listing process is also a matter of concern to the market.

Baiwei Storage emphasized in the announcement that the lawsuit will not have a significant adverse impact on the company's production, operations and financial status. However, a relevant person from the Securities Department also said in a reply to "21st Century Business Herald", "We still need to determine internally whether it will have an impact on Hong Kong stocks (IPO)."

The above-mentioned lawyer also mentioned that intellectual property rights such as patents are industry barriers for many technology companies and are also an important factor in being recognized by the capital market. If it does constitute infringement and the infringement is on a relatively important patent in its own business, the impact on the company to be listed will be quite "destructive".

But he also admitted that at this stage, technology companies are intensively listed and are the "sweet potato" of the capital market, so lawsuits against IPO companies are also relatively common.

It should be mentioned that Longsys, the plaintiff behind this lawsuit, and Baiwei Storage, the defendant, are both in the process of the Hong Kong stock IPO. Longsys submitted its application to the Hong Kong stock market in March last year, earlier than Baiwei Storage, but the materials had expired in September last year.

Interestingly, after the announcement of the lawsuit, Baiwei Storage's A-share stock price did not seem to be greatly affected. After a slight drop the day after the announcement, on April 10, affected by the general increase in the memory chip sector index, Baiwei Storage's stock price also rose by 6.15%. The stock price closed at 241.51 yuan per share, with a market value of 113.712 billion yuan. Longsys was affected by the same positive news, and its stock price also rose simultaneously. It closed at 341.3 yuan per share on April 10, with its total market value reaching 143.054 billion.

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman insisted on April 8 that Apple’s first foldable screen iPhone will still be released in September as planned.

Just the day before, Nikkei Asia reported another picture: the engineering verification and testing phase encountered more complex problems than expected. The hinge yield rate was only 30% to 65%, and the screen creases could not be eliminated. In the worst case, mass production may be delayed for several months.

The tug-of-war between the two voices just exposes the real dilemma of Apple’s folding screen – Huawei Mate

The era when suppliers worked hard to squeeze into Apple's supply chain is gone forever. What replaced it was a collective rational defense based on "Ophelia fear." Working for Apple has gone from being a ticket to the top spot in the A-share market to a toxic asset that may return to zero overnight.

Looking deeper, Apple itself is in structural trouble. It is still a reluctant monarch of the global supply chain and a sandwich layer in the geopolitical game. When security and politics replace pure market logic and become the primary variable in supply chain decisions, Apple's control techniques that rely on technological leadership and business reputation are experiencing unprecedented backlash. In this sense, Apple's toxicity does not only refer to its strong treatment of suppliers, but also to a distorted macro environment – an environment in which commercial rationality gives way to political narratives, and Apple is both a pressurer and a victim.

1. From the myth of wealth creation to the closed loop of fear

To understand Apple's current predicament, one must look back at the dramatic turnaround in its supply chain relationships over the past fifteen years.

It was an era of wealth creation belonging to the fruit chain. Wang Laichun, the founder of Luxshare Precision, once said that flying with the phoenix must be a handsome bird. In order to get orders from Apple, Luxshare pursues a close-to-customer strategy. Foxconn will build factories wherever they go. In 2017, when Inventec was struggling with the yield rate of AirPods, Luxshare not only overcame the problem, but also shortened the product delivery cycle from five to six weeks to one to three days, winning the exclusive OEM right in one fell swoop.

This faith-based collaboration has paid off handsomely. Luxshare Precision’s revenue was less than 10 billion yuan when it went public in 2010, but it had soared to 268.7 billion yuan in 2024. Wang Laichun also ranked the fourth richest female in China with a net worth of 85.5 billion yuan in March 2026. The same story happened to Goertek and Lens Technology. At that time, entering the fruit chain was synonymous with technical strength and global reputation, and was a proven high-speed upward path.

The turning point began in March 2021. Apple suddenly kicked OFILM out of the supply chain. The superficial reason was supply chain adjustment, but the industry generally believes that the geopolitical background of being included in the U.S. Entity List was the key pressure for Apple to make the decision to cut. This company that has been OEMing for Apple for many years collapsed instantly: its revenue in 2021 was cut by 52.75% year-on-year, with a net loss of 2.665 billion yuan, its stock price plummeted 70%, and its market value evaporated by more than 30 billion yuan. What's even more fatal is that some of the special equipment and process standards customized for Apple are difficult to directly reuse in Huawei and Xiaomi's product lines, resulting in low production capacity utilization during the conversion period and a sharp increase in asset impairment pressure.

However, Ou Feiguang did not die as expected. After the return of the Huawei Mate 60 series in 2023, OFILM won most of the orders for camera modules; in 2025, it will also exclusively supply camera modules for Xiaomi AI glasses and SU7 Ultra. This abandoned fruit chain company, once abandoned by Apple, relied on orders from Hualian and Milian to urgently add new production lines at its Nanchang factory, achieving a dramatic turnaround.

But the price of this renewal is that OFILM has shifted from being deeply bound to Apple to equally deeply dependent on Huawei and Xiaomi. In 2024, the sales revenue share of its top five customers will increase from 69.54% to 77.35%. OFILM's case has thus become a preview of suppliers' worst fears: no matter which chain they switch to, over-reliance on a single customer's high-investment model is a high-risk gamble.

If OFILM's resurrection had given the market a glimmer of luck, then the experience of Wingtech Technology had completely extinguished this glimmer of hope. In 2021, Wingtech acquired OFILM's original Apple camera business for 2.42 billion yuan, intending to enter the fruit chain. After difficult compliance reforms and production line upgrades, its Kunming factory will finally start manufacturing MacBooks for Apple in 2023. However, in December 2024, Wingtech was included in the entity list by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and all efforts came to nothing in an instant. In 2025, Wingtech was forced to sell all of its foundry business to Luxshare Precision for about 4.4 billion yuan.

Apple’s sandwich layer dilemma is highlighted here. OFILM was abandoned due to Apple's hedging choice under geopolitical pressure; Wingtech was blocked due to external sanctions beyond its control. Apple is both the enforcer of pressure and the passive party unable to protect its partners. This dual role allows suppliers to see clearly the fact that when cooperating with Apple, they not only have to face its commercial strength, but also bear non-market risks that it cannot shield. No matter how good the technology is, it may be abandoned by Apple for non-commercial reasons; compliance operations may also be sanctioned by external forces beyond Apple's control.

The two cases are superimposed to form a complete closed loop of fear – it declares to all Chinese suppliers that investing in dedicated assets and excessive technology investment for Apple is a high-risk gamble with an uncontrollable outcome. The risk-benefit formula of Fruit Chain Certification, which once symbolized glory and wealth, has been completely rewritten.

2. From faith-based cooperation to risk pricing

Fear directly leads to fundamental changes in behavioral patterns.

In the past, the belief-based cooperation that took the initiative to advance regardless of costs has now been replaced by a calculated and defense-first risk consideration. This shift is essentially about pricing non-market risks.

Leading suppliers are taking the initiative to reduce their dependence on Apple. Luxshare Precision's revenue from Apple has dropped from approximately 75% in 2022 to 64.3% in the first half of 2025. Its strategic focus has clearly shifted: through the acquisition of Germany's Leoni wiring harness business and Wingtech's ODM department, it will aggressively enter the automotive electronics and Android mobile phone camps. In the first nine months of 2025, Luxshare's automotive business revenue surged 155% year-on-year to 23.7 billion yuan. Lens Technology is also reducing Apple's sales proportion. Its new energy vehicle business revenue will increase by 39.47% in 2023. Its customer list includes Tesla, BYD, Ideal, Weilai, etc. Resources are flowing from the uncertain Apple folding screen project to a track with more certainty and policy support.

Investment strategies have also shifted from specialized to general purpose.

In the past, suppliers would spend huge sums of money to build dedicated production lines for specific Apple products. For example, in 2021, Luxshare invested 11 billion yuan in Kunshan to build a super factory equivalent to the size of 40 football fields in order to compete for iPhone orders. Now, facing Apple’s folding screen project, the first principle for suppliers is to avoid repeating the mistakes of OFILM. They refuse to build production lines that only serve Apple, and require that the production lines must be compatible with the standards of customers such as Huawei and Xiaomi to prevent assets from being scrapped if orders change due to commercial or non-commercial reasons. They even began to require Apple to prepay for investment in production lines, subverting the traditional investment first and amortization after success model. This is equivalent to requiring Apple to pay a deposit for potential political cut-off risks.

Technology interactions similarly shift from transparency to retention.

"Nikkei Asia" reported an intriguing detail: Apple purchased domestically produced folding screens for disassembly, but was still unable to solve the crease problem. This is most likely a technology retention strategy. Take Huawei Mate X6 as an example. Its hinge patents have exceeded 2,850, and the crease depth is controlled to 0.08 mm, which is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. China's supply chain already has the ability to achieve crease-free production, but in the face of Apple, they have the incentive to show that the technology is not feasible in the game.

The most fundamental changes occur at the negotiating table. In the past, suppliers accepted Apple's harsh terms in exchange for admission, including 90 to 120-day accounting periods, 5% annual price reduction requirements, and technology exclusivity. Now, they are beginning to demand a risk premium from OFILM: technical protection clauses signed in advance to prevent technology from being transferred to Indian or Vietnamese suppliers; a clear exit compensation mechanism to prevent being kicked out without reason or for political reasons; and a shorter accounting period. In short, the shift from cooperation first and then discussing money has become to insuring political risks first and then discussing business cooperation. If Apple does not agree, suppliers would rather give up the order than make unguaranteed excess investment. The annual reduction mechanism that Apple used to control costs and the threat of second suppliers to control technology are failing in the face of this new algorithm.

Just 18 days have passed since the founder and actual controller Lin Xiucheng was investigated. Lin Kechuang, the general manager and vice chairman of Sanan Optoelectronics, was also detained by relevant departments. On the same day, the company's equity was also frozen, and combined with its first loss from listing last year, this global LED company is experiencing its "darkest moment."

On the evening of April 8, Sanan Optoelectronics announced that Lin Kechuang, the company’s vice chairman and general manager, was detained by the Chongqing Yuzhong District Supervisory Committee on April 7, and a notice of filing was issued.

The announcement specifically mentioned that the company has not received any documents targeting the company or cooperating with the investigation, and has made appropriate arrangements for relevant work. Other directors and senior managers are performing their duties normally, the board of directors is operating normally, and production, operation, and management are normal.

Just on March 22 this year, Lin Xiucheng, the founder and actual controller of Sanan Optoelectronics, was detained by the National Supervisory Commission, causing an uproar in the market. However, less than 20 days later, the news that general manager Lin Kechuang had also been placed on probation once again caused a shock in the market.

It should be mentioned that although corporate leaders have been detained frequently in recent years, it is also rare for both actual controllers and senior executives to be detained within the company at the same time.

According to the company’s earlier announcement, Lin Kechuang is 50 years old and joined the company before it went public in 2008. In addition to being an executive of Sanan Optoelectronics, Lin Kechuang's other identity is Lin Xiucheng's son-in-law.

According to the company’s personnel structure, although founder Lin Xiucheng has retired, he is still the actual controller of the company. Legal person and chairman Lin Zhiqiang is Lin Xiu's eldest son, vice chairman and general manager Lin Kechuang is his son-in-law, and deputy general manager Lin Zhidong is his second son. It can be seen that Sanan Optoelectronics is a typical family business.

It is worth noting that when it was announced that Lin Kechuang was being detained, the equity of the indirect controlling shareholder Sanan Group and the controlling shareholder Sanan Electronics were waiting to be frozen by the Chongqing High Court and the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court respectively.

Among them, a total of about 257 million shares held by Sanan Group were frozen, accounting for 5.14% of the listed company Sanan Optoelectronics; 1.12 billion shares held by Sanan Electronics were frozen in batches, accounting for 92.28% of its shareholding ratio, accounting for 22.46% of Sanan Optoelectronics. A total of 27.6% of Sanan Optoelectronics was waiting to be frozen on that day.

In addition to the equity interests of Sanan Electronics and Sanan Group that were previously frozen by law, all equity interests in Sanan Optoelectronics held by the two major shareholders have actually been frozen.

Sanan Optoelectronics is a global leader in the LED industry. The company is mainly engaged in the research, development, production and sales of full-color ultra-high brightness LED epitaxial wafers and chips, compound solar cells, PIN photodetector chips, etc. LED refers to light-emitting diodes, which are solid-state semiconductor devices. Its wide application is concentrated in the three major fields of lighting, display screens and signal indication, and extends to special scenarios such as medical treatment and agriculture.

According to the company's 2024 financial report, the company's revenue that year was 16.11 billion yuan, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 253 million yuan, of which the LED chip epitaxial business revenue was approximately 6.037 billion yuan.

As recently as March 30, Lin Kechuang made a public appearance at the company's press conference. At the press conference, Sanan Optoelectronics tried to dissociate itself from Lin Xiucheng’s retention incident, saying that it was an incident involving the actual controller and had nothing to do with Sanan Optoelectronics.

Lin Kechuang also stated at the time that the company had conducted in-depth exchanges with major customers in South Korea and the United States, making it clear that it was an independent incident of the actual controller and would not affect the development of Sanan Optoelectronics as an independent legal entity. Faced with the market's doubts about the company's "mainly relying on government subsidies," he also responded that it is still receiving relevant subsidy payments normally. The government's support for high-tech entities such as San'an Optoelectronics, which is deeply involved in the field of compound semiconductors, has been as strong as ever, emphasizing that the company's operations are legal and compliant and have the ability to self-generate.

At the press conference, Lin Kechuang also focused on the company's capital and debt status, saying that the company maintains close communication with various banks. The company's asset-liability ratio currently remains at a low level and its cash flow is stable, trying to send a signal to the outside world that the company is operating steadily.

However, just a few days after the press conference, Lin Kechuang suddenly encountered a lien situation, which undoubtedly deepened the outside world's doubts about the company's ability to maintain stable operations in the future. This has already been reflected in the stock price of Sanan Optoelectronics.

Since the announcement of Lin Xiucheng’s lien on March 22, Sanan Optoelectronics’ stock price has continued to fall. The stock price dropped from 16.54 yuan per share before the lien to 11.89 yuan per share at the midday closing on April 9.

Affected by the Lin Kechuang lien and equity freeze incident, the company's stock price also fell by 4.19% on the morning of April 9. In less than 20 days, Sanan Optoelectronics’ stock price has fallen by 4.65 yuan per share, a drop of nearly 30% of the stock price before the incident. The total market value has also fallen below 60 billion yuan, falling to 59.319 billion yuan, and the market value has evaporated by more than 23 billion yuan.

In terms of performance, Sanan Optoelectronics has not announced its full-year results for 2025, but judging from the performance forecast released in January this year, the company suffered its first loss since its listing last year, with a net loss attributable to the parent company of between 200 million and 300 million yuan.

At this time, there have been cases in which key personnel of the company have been detained and equity interests have been frozen. The operating conditions of this leading domestic LED company will undoubtedly make it worse.

While waiting for its listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, Ruishi Chuangxin, a domestic RF front-end chip and module manufacturer, suddenly "suspended" its IPO review.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange updated the latest IPO review status of Ruishi Chuangxin at the end of March. The information showed that since the financial information recorded in Ruishi Chuangxin's IPO documents has expired and needs to be supplemented, its review status has been temporarily changed to "suspended." According to the previously announced prospectus, the deadline for the financial data previously submitted by Ruishi Chuangxin is the end of June 2025. According to the requirements, Ruishi Chuangxin needs to provide financial data for the whole year of 2025.

Founded in 2017, Ruishi Chuangxin is one of the domestic companies that currently builds its own factories in the field of highly integrated filter modules. According to the prospectus, one of the purposes of the company's fundraising on the Science and Technology Innovation Board is to use it for the second phase construction project of the MEMS device production base to carry out iterative upgrades of filter products and expand market share.

In communication systems, filters are mainly used to filter out or weaken noise, interference, etc. in input signals and extract useful signals. They are a key segment in RF front-end chips and are widely used in application scenarios such as smartphones, drones, satellite communications, the Internet of Things, and smart wearable devices.

Until the end of 2024, the world's five giant companies, represented by Qualcomm, Broadcom, Murata, etc., still occupy more than 70% of the global market share. However, domestic RF front-end companies have long lingered in the field of mid-to-low-end discrete devices, and high-end filters are almost completely dependent on imports.

Against this background, Ruishi Chuangxin aims at the domestic high-integration market and takes self-developed and self-produced filters as the main breakthrough point as an important part of "domestic substitution" in the chip field.

This corporate layout is also favored by leading manufacturers. According to the shareholder list published in the prospectus, OPPO and Hubble Investment, which is backed by Huawei, are the company’s fourth and fifth largest shareholders. In terms of mobile phone manufacturers, Ruishi Chuangxin has also entered the supply chain system of global mainstream mobile phone brands including OPPO, Xiaomi, vivo, Honor, Samsung, Transsion and so on.

At the same time, Ruishi Chuangxin will implement a price reduction strategy for its core product 5G radio frequency front-end module in 2024, and the gross profit margin of this product will drop by 11.90 percentage points. As of the first half of 2025, the company's net profit has not yet turned around, and its undistributed book profit is -1.68 billion yuan. With deep accumulated losses, profitability risks may be difficult to ignore.

From 2022 to the first half of 2025 (hereinafter referred to as the "reporting period"), Ruishi Chuangxin's comprehensive gross profit margin was only 7.95%, 13.90%, 8.79%, and 9.79%, while the average gross profit margins of comparable companies during the same period were 26.31%, 23.49%, 20.90%, and 21.09% respectively. Ruishi Chuangxin's gross profit margin was less than half of that of comparable companies in the same industry in China.

Although Xinchuang's opportunity for domestic substitution provides a window for corporate development, market research institutions predict that global smartphone shipments will drop significantly, which will put sales pressure on related component manufacturing companies. How to find a balance between favorable policies and market pressure is testing the business wisdom of domestic technology innovation companies, including Ruishi Chuangxin.

Heavy warehouse investment filter

Judging from the company's development history, Ruishi Chuangxin is a typical high-tech innovative enterprise. Ni Jianxing, the company's founder and controlling shareholder, is 42 years old and a "post-80s generation". After graduating from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 2005, majoring in microelectronics, he went to Iowa State University in the United States to pursue a graduate degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, he worked in world-renowned semiconductor companies such as Motorola Solutions, Inc. and Skyworks.

After leaving Sijiaxun, Ni Jianxing founded Ruishi Chuangxin. Since his establishment, in addition to serving as the company's chairman, general manager and actual controller, Ni Jianxing also serves as the head of the company's R&D department.

The R&D, design, manufacturing and sales of RF front-end modules and RF discrete devices are the main business of Ruishi Chuangxin. RF front-end modules and RF discrete devices for 5G, 4G, drones, and satellite communications are the company's main products.

Different from a single-link R&D and design company, Ruishi Chuangxin has a relatively complete product and technology layout, covering all categories of core RF devices such as RF filters (including duplexers, multiplexers, and SAW Banks), power amplifiers, RF switches, and low-noise amplifiers.

It is worth noting that investment in RF filters accounts for a large proportion of the development process of Ruishi Chuangxin. In 2019, Ruishi Chuangxin, which had just been established for 2 years, signed a contract to establish a filter production base in Chongqing. Such a significant investment, for a start-up company, seemed quite "radical" in the industry at the time.

However, judging from the development paths of global giants, investing in and building filter production lines is the only way for RF front-end module companies to develop. When a design company develops to a certain stage, it will inevitably need to merge or invest in a filter company to achieve a high degree of module integration.

With the production base put into operation in 2024, Ruishi Chuangxin has also transformed from the pure design (Fabless) model at the beginning of its establishment to a "Fab-lite" model.

At the same time, this also makes Ruishi Chuangxin the second company in China that has built its own filter factory and has the capability of highly integrated RF front-end modules. Prior to this, the first company to achieve self-production of filters + module integration was Zhuosheng Micro, which was launched in 2019.

Therefore, the production base with self-production capabilities has become one of the important advantages that differentiates Ruishi Chuangxin from other similar domestic RF front-end companies. Among the financing purposes of this listing, the investment and construction of the second phase of the production base is an important financing purpose.

The announcement shows that Ruishi Chuangxin’s total fundraising scale is approximately 810 million yuan, of which 369 million yuan is planned for the second phase construction project of the MEMS device production base, 330 million yuan is expected to be invested in the R&D center construction project, and another 110 million yuan is used to supplement working capital.

The prospectus mentioned that the second phase of the project will be used to expand the company's production capacity of SAW, TC-SAW, ML-SAW (POI substrate) and other filters. The produced filters will be combined with the company's existing PA, LNA and RF switch technologies to bring synergy to the company's highly integrated RF front-end modules.

As the industry's "involution" intensifies, how to make profits?

It should be pointed out that, similar to many technology entrepreneurial companies, Ruishi Chuangxin has not yet achieved profitability at least by the end of June 2025.

The prospectus shows that during the reporting period (January-June 2022 to 2025), Ruishi Chuangxin’s revenue scale was 370 million yuan, 649 million yuan, 669 million yuan, and 377 million yuan respectively, of which the revenue in three complete fiscal years The compound growth rate reached 34.43%; in terms of net profit performance, they were -328 million yuan, -328 million yuan, -353 million yuan, and -148 million yuan respectively during the period. The cumulative net loss in three and a half years was 1.157 billion yuan.

Regarding the loss, Ruishi Chuangxin explained that it was due to factors such as large R&D investment during the period, low product gross profit margin, and large share-based payment expenses. And due to the high technical barriers, long R&D cycles, and strict product certification and customer introduction processes in the RF front-end industry, the company expects to continue to maintain high R&D investment in the short term.

Judging from the scale of losses, the company's losses will tend to narrow in 2025, and the gross profit margin will show a certain rebound in the financial report for the first half of 2025. In addition, while the gross profit margin of the company's main products, 5G and 4G radio frequency front-end modules, has dropped to less than 10%, the gross profit margin of drone radio frequency front-end modules has reached more than 27%, which has played a certain role in boosting the company's overall gross profit margin level.

In contrast, Onrui Micro, another RF front-end company that just went public at the end of last year, has a more eye-catching financial performance. The announcement shows that by the end of 2024, the company's revenue has reached 2.1 billion yuan. At the same time, in the three and a half years from 2022 to 2025, the cumulative net loss was 840 million yuan, and the scale of the loss was even smaller.

In terms of corporate strategy, Onrui Micro mainly adopts the foundry method, and its business model appears to be more "light", which provides conditions for the company to achieve profitability faster. Ruishi Chuangxin, which chose to invest in the construction of a production line, in addition to having heavier assets, has also realized a full-chain closed loop of "chip design + filter manufacturing + module packaging and testing", making it technically more "hard-core".

This reflects, to a certain extent, the fierce competition among domestic RF front-end companies. At the same time, the unsatisfactory gross profit margin levels of the two companies also reflect that the price involution in the RF front-end market, especially the mid- to low-end market, has reached a fever pitch.

In fact, starting from the second half of 2024, leading companies in the RF front-end industry will generally experience performance pressure. In the 2025 financial report of domestic industry leader Zhuosheng Micro, it suffered its first loss since its listing. Although Huizhi Micro has increased revenue, it has not yet turned a loss. Ongrui Micro's latest financial report also shows that both revenue and profit are under pressure.

Industry analysts believe that the RF front-end is showing a "low-end red ocean and high-end blue ocean" situation. The low-end RF market has generally reduced gross profit margins due to overcapacity, while the high-end market is monopolized by international giants and is in short supply.

According to Yole's forecast, the global RF front-end market will exceed US$17 billion by 2030. By then, the global share of domestic manufacturers is expected to increase from the current 15% to 30%. The growth space will mainly come from high-end module replacement.

Therefore, moving from low-end to high-end is an inevitable demand for domestic substitution. What needs to be focused on is not only the company's breakthroughs in key technologies and processes, but also the process of upgrading the entire industrial chain.

Some industry insiders pointed out that the large initial investment in self-built filter factories will put pressure on the company's profit performance: "In fact, the industry currently has overcapacity in low-end products, and the cost of self-produced products may not be more advantageous. But the most important thing about having production capacity is not only cost considerations, but also in the process of upgrading from low-end to high-end R&D, technology can be independently controllable, production capacity is guaranteed, and it can meet the customized needs of enterprises. The significance of this aspect may be more important to enterprises."

Because of this, domestic RF front-end companies are forced to break through to the high-end market, and the demand for domestic substitution has also "teared" a hole in the market that is still occupied by international giants, and this is also the direction that Ruishi Chuangxin is aiming at.

It is worth mentioning that adjusting to the Fab-lite model is also the transformation direction of leading companies like Zhuo Shengwei. The current transformation process is also an important factor that put pressure on its performance last year. This situation of performance pressure is similar to that of Ruishi Chuangxin, which has invested heavily from the beginning.

The “dangers” and “opportunities” brought about by geopolitical conflicts

Industry investors revealed that due to the intensification of geopolitical conflicts this year, many domestic terminal equipment companies are worried about the "stuck neck" problem, and their demand for domestic components has become urgent: "On the one hand, some equipment companies are focusing on seeking alternatives on the domestic manufacturing side. On the other hand, some companies are required to complete their wafer customization needs in advance, all of which are preparing for supply cuts that may be caused by international trade frictions."

From the perspective of the development of the RF front-end industry, the uncertainty caused by geopolitical friction is a "double-edged sword." On the one hand, international conflicts make domestic and foreign companies tend to make “conservative” choices. In the domestic market, it forces many domestic equipment companies to shift component demand from international to domestic, objectively providing development opportunities for domestic companies.

In the international market, the merger of two industry giants, Skyworks and Qorvo, in November last year also shocked the industry. According to analysis by industry insiders, the intention of the merger between the two parties is not to rule out that it is to secure the more profitable Apple and military markets, so that there will be some spillover markets for mid-range products for other rivals to share.

On the other hand, institutions predict that smartphone shipments will decline globally, which will reduce the total demand for components by terminal companies. Counterpoint, a third-party market research organization, has predicted that global smartphone shipments will decline by about 12% to 12.4% year-on-year in 2026, slightly less than 1.1 billion units, which will be the lowest annual sales volume in the past 13 years.

As for the reason for the decline, Counterpoint cited the storage price crisis. As a result, the low-end market, where storage accounts for a higher proportion of the total machine cost, will be hardest hit, while the high-end price segment with a wholesale price of over US$700 may be one of the few markets that can achieve small growth.

Therefore, the low-end market will enter the stage of "bayonet seeing red", and iterating to the high-end market is not only the transformation direction of terminal equipment companies, but also the inevitable path for component equipment companies. The only difference lies in whether technological breakthroughs and the overall level of the industrial chain can meet the needs of iteration – these are precisely the greater tests for Ruishi Chuangxin, which is on the verge of listing.

On April 8, American anchor Li Jiaqi stated during a Taobao live broadcast event that he might miss two quarters of live broadcasts, triggering speculation that he would suspend live broadcasts.

However, Li Jiaqi said on social media that night, "I made a mistake in the afternoon, it was two months, not two quarters, and the first month of filming has ended, and the partners will meet with you soon."

It is reported that the "partner" Li Jiaqi refers to is the variety show "Paris Partners".

The program focuses on the theme of "domestic products going overseas". Li Jiaqi serves as the "Cargo Management Director" in the program, responsible for coordinating the entire process of brand goods, and participating in product knowledge training and sales guidance.

It is worth mentioning that Li Jiaqi’s previous slip of the tongue has attracted great attention from the outside world. On Li Jiaqi's personal Xiaohongshu account, many fans left messages in the hot comments saying "I'm scaring everyone to death." Especially in March this year, Li Jiaqi publicly revealed that he wanted to study abroad to improve his English. At this time, it also caused a lot of speculation in the self-media.

However, although this slip of the tongue was a false alarm, in the reality that domestic live broadcast e-commerce is gradually encountering bottlenecks, Li Jiaqi's transformation has already been planned, and going overseas is a challenge that he cannot avoid.

Li Jiaqi's MCN platform Beauty Watch has currently tried to use local anchors to bring products overseas, but the scale is still insignificant compared to domestic. "Paris Partners", which premiered last year, is another attempt by Li Jiaqi to join hands with domestic celebrities and beauty companies to go overseas.

Since the symbolic significance of last year's "Paris Partners" is far greater than the actual sales, this year's second season of "Paris Partners" will expand the scope of product selection, and it is also necessary to prove how effective this overseas model is. At this time, Li Jiaqi naturally has a practical need to build momentum for himself.

On the other hand, strengthening linkage and customization with big-name companies in the domestic market is another path Li Jiaqi can try.

When talking about "learning English" before, Li Jiaqi also revealed that many of the brands she cooperates with are cosmetics companies, such as L'Oréal, Estee Lauder and other top cosmetics companies in the world. "If I want to make my business stronger, I hope to talk directly to the brand headquarters to accurately convey Chinese market demand and product interpretation, so that overseas brands can directly hear the thoughts of Chinese anchors instead of having translators talk to them. I want to learn the language because I want to make myself stronger."

Therefore, Li Jiaqi's slip of the tongue may not be "big news", but it can still be regarded as the latest move in his attempt to transform, and it also reflects the urgency and anxiety of the current transformation of leading e-commerce anchors.