Amazon Shares Plunge After Disappointing Earnings; Li Guoqing Issues 15-Point Rebuttal in Divorce Feud

Good morning, friends at China Venture. Amazon’s stock price plummeted in after-hours trading on Thursday, dropping more than 8% at one point to $1,637, wiping out $80 billion from the company’s market capitalization. Does this mean that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is about to cede the title of the world’s richest person back to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates?

#Venture Capital Spotlight#

1. Reports: SoftBank’s Vision Fund Plans to Write Down at Least $5 Billion

Sources Reveal SoftBank’s Vision Fund Plans Write-Down of At Least $5 BillionPeople familiar with the matter revealed that SoftBank’s Vision Fund plans to write down at least $5 billion to reflect the decline in valuation of some of its holdings, including WeWork and Uber. According to these sources, the poor performance of ride-hailing stocks has influenced SoftBank’s approach to valuing its investments in this sector, such as Didi Chuxing and Grab. One of the sources stated that the write-down could reach as high as $7 billion, but the final amount has not yet been determined and remains subject to change.

2. Li Guoqing Issues 15 Targeted Responses: Only One Thing About Yu Yu Is True, the Rest Are False

In Response to Yu Yu’s Allegations, Dangdang Co-Founder Li Guoqing Issued 15 Targeted Rebuttals Late Last Night, Stating, “Only One Is True; the Rest Are False.” Li Guoqing remarked, “Yu Yu’s malicious slander, portraying me as scum, was meticulously orchestrated solely to avoid an equal division of equity in our divorce proceedings, and it completely breached the bottom line we had agreed upon—to limit our disputes to professional matters only. Since Yu Yu has brought up personal life issues, I will respond to them one by one.” Li Guoqing further stated, “Out of regard for our past family ties, I will not expose any further damaging information about Yu Yu.”

3.CSRC Approves IPO Registration for Kingsoft Office and Qingyi Optoelectronics on the STAR Market

Recently, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approved, in accordance with statutory procedures, the initial public offering (IPO) registrations on the STAR Market for the following companies: Beijing Kingsoft Office Software, Inc. and Shenzhen Qingyi Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. The aforementioned companies and their underwriters will separately coordinate with the Shanghai Stock Exchange to determine the issuance schedules and will subsequently publish their prospectus documents.

4.iFlytek: iFlytek Industrial Investment Has Invested in Over 60 Companies

The iFlytek Global Developer Conference was held on the morning of October 24. Liu Qingfeng, Chairman of iFlytek, stated that iFlytek Industrial Investment, initiated and led by iFlytek, has invested in more than 60 companies, with an average overall growth rate exceeding 50%.

5.51 Credit Card Claims to Have Terminated Outsourced Debt Collection, Yet Continues to Post Related Job Openings

“51 Credit Card” Involved in Soft-Violence Debt Collection, Subjected to Police Raid; Company Discloses Termination of All Outsourced Collection Activities by Late July. However, a search for “debt collection” on a recruitment platform revealed that Hangzhou Enniu Network Technology Co., Ltd., the operator behind 51 Credit Card, posted a job opening for a “Collection Team Leader” on the day of the raid, with responsibilities including assisting collectors in meeting collection targets. Relevant officials from the Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department stated, “The investigation into this case is still ongoing. Given the broad scope of involvement, further information will be released promptly as the investigation progresses.”

6.Nanjing's New Ride-Hailing Management Measures Proposed: Priority Given to New Energy Vehicles

Recently, the Nanjing Municipal Transportation Bureau published a public notice on its official website soliciting opinions on the "Nanjing City Online Ride-Hailing Service Management Measures." The Measures propose that vehicles engaged in online ride-hailing services in Nanjing should prioritize the use of new energy vehicles, and also specify requirements for the driving range of battery electric vehicles.

7.Regulatory Assessment of the “Internet Loan” Industry Chain: Initial Survey Covers Three Institutions

Following the police investigation into 51 Credit Card’s debt collection agency, on October 24, the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission established a joint investigation team to assess the boundaries of big data usage and data collection, which will involve regulations on the management of outsourced debt collection agencies. The first batch of institutions subject to screening and investigation included Yinuo Yinhua, Wansheng Financial, and Ping An Puhui. Licensed financial institutions also promptly conducted internal self-inspections. A senior executive at the head office of a joint-stock commercial bank stated that branch offices were reviewing their collaborations with third-party data platforms to evaluate compliance risks.

#TechFrontier#

1. Pinduoduo’s Stock Surges 12%, Market Cap Overtakes JD.com to Join China’s Top Four Internet Giants

Pinduoduo’s shares surged 12.62% to close at $39.38 on Thursday, hitting a record high. Its market capitalization increased by $5.1 billion in a single day, reaching $46.471 billion, surpassing JD.com ($44.646 billion) to become China’s fourth-largest internet company, trailing only Alibaba ($449.239 billion), Tencent ($388.819 billion), and Meituan ($65.572 billion).

2.Amazon Releases Q3 Earnings Report: Net Profit Falls 26% Year-on-Year, Shares Plunge Over 8% in After-Hours Trading

In the early hours of October 25, Amazon released its financial report for the third quarter of 2019. The report showed that Amazon's total net sales in the third quarter were $69.981 billion, a 24% increase from $56.576 billion in the same period last year; net profit was $2.134 billion, a 26% decrease from $2.883 billion in the same period last year. This marks the first year-on-year decline since the second quarter of 2017.

3.Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei: 270 Million Mobile Phones to Be Produced This Year; No Plans to Sell Self-Developed Chips for Now

Ren Zhengfei recently stated that Huawei’s in-house chip production volume is substantial. With 270 million smartphones scheduled for production this year, the demand is so high that it may require several chip fabrication plants to meet the supply needs. Huawei does not adopt small-scale deployment; instead, once its chips are utilized, they are deployed on a large scale, which consequently drives down costs. Currently, Huawei has no plans to sell its self-developed chips to other companies.

4.Musk: The Electric Pickup Truck Could Become Tesla’s Best Product Ever

According to foreign media reports, during Tesla’s third-quarter earnings conference call, when an analyst asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk about the electric pickup truck, Musk stated that he believed the vehicle, which he now refers to as the Tesla “Cybertruck,” could ultimately become Tesla’s “best product ever.”

5.Zuckerberg Defends Libra Before Congress: While We Debated, Other Countries Took Action

On October 23 local time, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing on Facebook’s Libra project. During the hearing, Zuckerberg emphasized that if U.S. regulators successfully blocked Libra, it would help other countries develop their own cryptocurrency projects, which would ultimately harm the United States and the dominance of the U.S. dollar. “While we are debating, other countries are taking action,” Zuckerberg said. “If the United States does not innovate, we risk losing our financial leadership.”

6.Byton Nears Mass Production as First Pre-Production Vehicle Officially Rolls Off the Line

Byton Co-Founder Daniel Kirchert announced on social media that the first "tooling sample" M-Byte rolled off the production line at Byton’s Nanjing factory yesterday afternoon. He stated that the factory would gradually commence the production of trial assembly vehicles from the same batch and released multiple photos of the new vehicle’s rollout. Regarding the specific rollout process, Byton’s Chief Affairs Officer, Ding Qingfen, later clarified via social media that some components of this trial assembly vehicle were manually transported to the Nanjing factory by several Byton employees on business trips and then assembled.

7.Former Microsoft Vice President Joins Blizzard

October 24 News: Mike Ybarra, the former Vice President of Microsoft Gaming who recently announced his departure, revealed on Twitter today that he will assume the role of Executive Vice President and General Manager at Blizzard Entertainment starting November 4. Previously, he was responsible for Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live at Microsoft. Microsoft President Phil Spencer offered his congratulations in a reply to the tweet.

8.Keep Exposed to Sudden Layoffs of Over 300 Employees, 60% of Whom Are in Development and Operations

On October 24, a netizen revealed on Maimai’s “Zhiyan” forum that Keep had suddenly laid off more than 300 employees. A user verified as a Keep employee commented, “We only found out today,” seemingly confirming the news. Other employees left messages stating they had already been laid off, noting, “There is severance pay; layoffs were conducted by business line... It was very sudden, and we had to leave the same day.” According to informed sources, approximately 60% of those laid off were from development and operations teams, with a severance package of N+1.

#Investment24H#

1.Photon Rayleigh Technology Completes Tens of Millions in Series A Financing, Invested by Silver River Capital

Photon Rayleigh Technology, a service provider in the field of intelligent fiber-optic sensing eavesdropping, has completed tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing, led byAoyin CapitalInvestment. The funds from this round of financing will be primarily used for the product research and development and investment in production equipment at Photon Rayleigh Technology, aiming to achieve coverage of key target markets for intelligent fiber-optic sensing eavesdropping. Founded in 2015, Photon Rayleigh Technology is a provider of fiber-optic security services and solutions.

2.Dui'a Secures New Round of Strategic Financing, Led by Sina Weibo Fund

Dui'a Network, a vocational education platform, has secured a new round of strategic financing, led bySina Weibo BaseJinlingtou; the financing amount has not been disclosed. Following this round of financing, Sina Weibo’s shareholding stands at 21.75%. Founded in 2014, Duia.com is an online live-streaming platform for vocational training. It provides platform users with services such as completely free basic courses in accounting, teaching, IT, and civil service examinations, low-cost professional courses, and mobile learning accessible anytime, anywhere.

3.Big Data Infrastructure Software Platform Provider “Transwarp” Completes Approximately RMB 500 Million in Series D2 Financing

October 24 News: Big data infrastructure software platform provider "Transwarp" announced that it has recently completed a RMB 500 million Series D2 financing round, with investors including well-known investment institutions.Jinshi Investment, CICC Capital, Bohai Zhongsheng, and National Industrial Investment Funds。

4.“ZhuJian Intelligence” Completes $45 Million Series B+ Funding Round

“Zhu Jian Intelligence” recently announced the completion of a $45 million Series B+ financing round. This round was led by a key strategic partner,Yunhui Capital and Lingfeng Capital jointly led the investment, with participation from Kaishibo Investment, Zhongan Capital, Trend Capital, Puhua Capital, and Yilu CapitalCo-investment. Following this round of financing, Emotibot will continue to drive innovation and breakthroughs in the fields of Natural Language Processing (NLP), affective computing, and multimodal human-computer interaction. Meanwhile, it will upgrade its Bot Factory™ platform, promote standardized products, build an ecosystem for implementation, and accelerate the cross-industry deployment of AI solutions.

5.YunMed Completes Series B Funding, with TEDAVC as the Investor

YunMed, a developer of sports medicine implants, has recently completed its Series B financing round. The specific amount was not disclosed, and the investor isTEDAVC. To date, the company has completed three rounds of financing. In June 2017, it secured angel-round funding from Jingxu Venture Capital; in November 2018, it obtained Series A financing from Xinjiang Chang’an Innovation Venture Capital and Huiding Investment. The specific amounts for these two rounds of financing have not been disclosed.