Important news
NEWS REMIND
1. iPhone 16 price cut across the board, up to 1,600 yuan discount! Only one month after release, it was revealed that there was a random restart problem
2.
Tencent Vice President Zeng Yu reportedly applied for retirement. He was responsible for the QQ game platform architecture and was one of the founders of Tencent's technology system.
3.
Pinduoduo gives out gold to employees on its anniversary celebration: 60g of golden chicken for every 10 years of employment
4.
Simba resumed broadcasting, and sold 6.4 billion per show, saying that he did not broadcast for the purpose of making money
5. Dingdong Maicai warehouse manager died suddenly. The third-party company involved responded: There is no direct confirmation that the sudden death was caused by work reasons
6. A large number of employees jumped to competitors, Samsung's performance was sluggish, and there were rumors of layoffs
7.
Cook's interview details Apple's two "big bets":
not rushing to be the first to launch, but only making the best
Today's headlines
HEADLINE NEWS
iPhone 16 price cut across the board, up to 1,600 yuan discount! Only one month after release, it was revealed to have a random restart problem
On October 21, #iPhone16 official flagship multiple models broke the price# became a hot search. In the 2024 Double 11 e-commerce festival, the entire iPhone 16 series, which was released only one month ago, ushered in a price reduction. This is the first price reduction in the official channel since the release of the new phone. Some netizens commented that "I am still struggling whether to change or not." Others said, "If you don't buy it, he won't buy it, and it can be reduced by 800 at the end of the month." Many netizens also commented that "It's reduced by 500 just after buying it, don't be mad at me" and "People who just bought it are at a loss."
Last year, Apple reportedly managed to recover sales in China by cutting prices. In fact, despite market concerns that the iPhone 16 may not perform well in the Chinese market because Apple's AI features are not yet available for iPhone models purchased in mainland China, initial sales have shown that demand for the iPhone 16 in China has clearly exceeded expectations. Compared with the 2023 iPhone 15, sales of the new iPhone increased by 20% in the first three weeks after its launch. The high-end models Pro and Pro Max of the iPhone 16 are selling particularly well, with their combined sales increasing by 44% compared to similar models in 2023.
It is worth mentioning that the iPhone 16 series has recently been exposed to have a restart problem. According to Global Network Technology citing foreign media reports, many iPhone 16 users have recently complained on Reddit, MacRumors forum and Apple Support Communities that their phones have random restart problems. According to feedback from affected users, their iPhones will suddenly freeze and then restart automatically. The report pointed out that this problem has existed since the release of the iPhone 16 series in September and has not been resolved to this day. (Cailianshe, Beijing Business Daily)
Domestic Information
DOMESTIC NEWS
Tencent Vice President Zeng Yu reportedly applied for retirement. He was responsible for the QQ gaming platform architecture and was one of the founders of Tencent's technology system.
On October 21, Tencent Vice President Zeng Yu applied for retirement in order to spend more time with his family and recuperate. In response, Tencent said that it was grateful for Zeng Yu's efforts and contributions to technology development over the years, and that arrangements had been made for the handover of related work. The business of related technology lines will continue to advance normally and will not be affected by this change.
The report mentioned that Zeng Yu, as a senior technical executive of Tencent, was one of the earliest founders of Tencent's interactive entertainment technology system. He joined Tencent in 2002 and was responsible for related technology research and development and management. As an architect, he pioneered the design of the distributed service architecture of China's largest casual game platform - QQGame.
In 2012, Zeng Yu was promoted to vice president of the company. He was subsequently responsible for the technical line management of multiple businesses such as games, videos, and information flow, and promoted the construction of technical and content middle platforms, and was committed to improving R&D effectiveness and business efficiency as well as the application and layout of cutting-edge technologies. (Dachang Youth)
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Pinduoduo gives out gold to employees on its anniversary: 60g golden chicken for 10 years of employment
On October 21, according to multiple self-media reports, Pinduoduo prepared a special anniversary gift for its employees on its 9th anniversary, which is gold.
The standard for the anniversary gift is based on the employee's years of service.
According to the revelation, any employee who has been employed for more than three years will be given a gold ring engraved with his or her name, weighing between 4 and 5 grams; for old employees who have been employed for five years or more, the ring weighs up to 10 grams; and for senior employees who have been employed for 10 years or more, Pinduoduo will give them a golden rooster weighing 60 grams.
According to public information, the domestic gold price has recently exceeded 620 yuan per gram, and the price of gold jewelry has exceeded 820 yuan per gram.
In terms of conversion, the anniversary gold gift package for Pinduoduo employees is still very valuable and commemorative. (Bianniushi)
Simba resumed broadcasting, one show sold 6.4 billion, saying that he did not start broadcasting for money
Recently, Simba officially returned to the show on October 19, 2024 after a 45-day hiatus. At about 10 a.m. that day, he started his first live broadcast on Kuaishou, which lasted for 8 and a half hours and attracted 69.24 million viewers, with the highest number of online viewers reaching 4.2666 million.
"Today I want to use this live broadcast to let everyone remember that Simba has been here," and "The whole audience will be very energetic."
As soon as the show started, Simba announced that he wanted to achieve the sales target of 10 billion yuan today. At 6 pm, 8 hours after the show started, GMV
exceeded 5 billion yuan. As of 24:00, Simba showed the mobile phone battle report, and GMV stopped at 6.41086 billion yuan. Simba said with a little regret that it was a gap from expectations. But at the same time, he said that for this live broadcast, Xinxuan actually took out more than 200 million yuan in subsidies. Although he did not reach his expected target of 7.5 to 8 billion yuan, he said that the show was not for making money, but to show his true strength.
During the live broadcast, Simba also mentioned several times that his live broadcast was about to "end". Various signs show that Simba's Xinxuan Group is moving towards offline development, and "opening a supermarket" has become his next career that he values more. (Weekly Finance)
Dingdong Maicai warehouse manager died suddenly, the third-party company involved responded: There is no direct confirmation that the sudden death was caused by work reasons
According to previous reports, the news that a warehouse keeper of Dingdong Maicai's Beijing store died suddenly in a rental house has attracted attention. Mr. Sun, a family member of the deceased Yanjie (pseudonym), said that Yanjie had worked overnight shifts for several consecutive days before the accident and had asked the store manager for leave saying that his eyes were full of blood. The family was collecting materials for the work-related death determination, but encountered difficulties in confirming the labor relationship - Yanjie did not sign a labor contract with Dingdong Maicai, but signed an employment agreement with a third-party company, Hangzhou Yunqiandou Technology Co., Ltd.
In response to this, on October 15, Yun Qiandou responded, "The appraisal report issued by the public security department did not directly confirm that Yanjie's sudden death was caused by work. The company is promoting the work injury identification process, and Dingdong Maicai has now set up a special team to handle this matter. The company is willing to provide tens of thousands of yuan in humanitarian compensation, but the premise is that the family accepts this plan." On the 20th, Mr. Sun said, "The family had a meeting with Dingdong Maicai and Yun Qiandou on the same day, and the other party increased the humanitarian compensation to 100,000 yuan." (Southern Metropolis Daily)
China Mobile system suddenly failed and could not log in: emergency repair is expected to take 3-4 hours, now fully restored
At about 4 pm on October 21, China Mobile's system suddenly broke down and could not be logged in. "Because there is a problem with the system, (customers
) cannot log in, and we cannot see the (customer) information. We are currently rushing to repair it." China Mobile's 10086 customer service said that the system failed and the official website and WeChat login were blocked. The company's technicians are currently urgently repairing it. They also said that the failure occurred at about 4 pm and it is estimated that the repair will take 3-4 hours.
On the evening of October 21, China Mobile Guangdong Company issued a statement on the abnormal situation of the business system: Starting from 15:47 on October 21, China Mobile Guangdong Company received feedback from customers that the official App could not be logged in, recharged, and other services could not be processed. The technical department quickly carried out troubleshooting and found that the load balancing equipment was abnormal, resulting in unstable business systems. After emergency treatment, the system service was fully restored at 17:06. The company deeply apologizes to the affected customers. (Yicai Global)
In just 52 minutes after the Double 11 sales started, the sales volume of products on Fliggy exceeded that of the first day last year
According to Fliggy, the total transaction volume of the 2024 Fliggy Double 11 sales exceeded last year's first day within 52 minutes of the launch. The transaction volume of multiple brands such as ANA, New Century Travel, Wanda Hotels and Resorts exceeded 100 million yuan, and the transaction volume of brands such as Shanghai Disney Resort, Chimelong Tourist Resort, and Songzan exceeded 50 million yuan.
After being fined 1.65 million yuan for selling fake sweet potato vermicelli, the internet celebrity Dongbei Yujie's account was banned and her MCN certification was revoked
On October 21, the account of "Northeast Rain Sister", an internet celebrity with 22.121 million followers on Douyin, was banned. The account homepage showed that "the user violated relevant laws and regulations and has been banned."
It is understood that in September this year, the sweet potato vermicelli sold by "Northeast Rain Sister" was questioned about its ingredients, which attracted attention.
Subsequently, the relevant departments in Benxi, Liaoning Province confirmed that Sister Yu Media had conducted false or misleading commercial propaganda,
and decided to impose administrative penalties on Sister Yu Media, including confiscation of illegal gains and a fine of 1.65 million yuan.
According to reports, Yujie Media claimed in a live broadcast that the sweet potato vermicelli "is made of nothing but sweet potato starch, drinking water, and edible alum" and "Yujie will control the quality for you", which is inconsistent with the facts and is a false or misleading commercial propaganda.
After the incident, the "Northeast Yujie" team started a refund and compensation of three times for consumers who purchased the problematic vermicelli.
(Fast Technology)
Zhang Xuefeng was angry when someone demanded 1 million yuan for trademark squatting: I will not let the bad guys who squatted the trademark get a penny
On the afternoon of October 21, Internet celebrity teacher Zhang Xuefeng posted an angry speech on his personal Weibo, which attracted widespread attention. Zhang Xuefeng wrote on Weibo: "I would rather become a landmark negative case in China's intellectual property community than let the bad guys who registered the trademark succeed and get a penny!!! Unless you promise to donate the money!!!!" It is understood that the cause of the incident was that someone registered Zhang Xuefeng's trademark and asked a lawyer to offer 1 million yuan for him to buy it. Zhang Xuefeng's move has been supported and appreciated by the majority of netizens. Many people have expressed their support for Zhang Xuefeng to defend his rights to the end and let those lawbreakers receive the punishment they deserve. (Zhang Xuefeng's Weibo)
People close to JD.com say rumors of regulators entering JD Finance are seriously untrue
On October 21, a person close to JD.com told Wall Street News that the rumors about "JD Finance encountering a regulatory working group and borrowing funds from some banks" were seriously inaccurate. "These are all unfounded rumors, and JD Finance's business is running smoothly." The person close to JD.com said that the bank-related matters were "standard procedures for quick redemption of money market funds."
JD.com has already reported and complained about the rumors. Earlier on October 18, JD Finance said: There is no "bank run" rumored online, the relevant remarks are completely untrue, and it will reserve the right to pursue legal responsibility. (Wall Street News)
Simba angrily criticized Ye Ke: You are not qualified to comment on Wu Bai, get off the Internet
Recently, Simba pointed out in a live broadcast that the internet celebrity "socialite" Ye Ke was not qualified to comment on Wu Bai. Simba said that he was speaking on behalf of the post-80s and post-90s generation who grew up listening to the songs of the so-called "dirty brother": "Ye Ke, get off the Internet."
It is understood that Ye Ke once complained in a live broadcast that Wu Bai's classic song "Wanderer Love Song" was "vulgar" and that songs like "Today You're Going to Marry Me" sung by David Tao and Jolin Tsai were shameful. Once this was said, public opinion quickly fermented, causing dissatisfaction among many netizens.
(
Bian Niu Shi
)
Pacific Coffee was accused of closing a large number of stores, and many stores in Shanghai showed that they were "closed" on weekends
Recently, Pacific Coffee, a chain coffee brand, has been accused of closing a large number of stores. Netizens from all over the country posted on social media that Pacific Coffee stores around them have closed one after another. A search of Shanghai stores found that on October 20, although three store names could be found on the Pacific Coffee mini program, each store was followed by a note saying "This store is closed, you can switch stores." Since the end of 2022, Pacific Coffee has been reported to have closed stores one after another. On the review platform, there is only one store left in many cities, such as Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chongqing, etc.
Pacific Coffee originated in Hong Kong, China. Since the opening of its first store in 1992, it has gradually grown. In 2010, China Resources Enterprise, a member company of China Resources Group, acquired 80% of Pacific Coffee's equity. Subsequently, the brand entered the Chinese mainland market and once occupied a place in the field of boutique coffee. However, in recent years, with the fierce competition from domestic and foreign coffee brands, Pacific Coffee's development momentum has slowed down significantly. According to relevant reports, the scale of China's coffee industry continues to grow, but Pacific Coffee has failed to keep up with this trend. (The Paper)
JD.com established a trading company in Zhuhai, including new energy vehicle sales business
According to news on October 21, Zhuhai Hongyue Trading Co., Ltd. was established on October 17, with Zhang Yan as the legal representative, a registered capital of RMB 100,000, and business scope including food sales, publications retail, new energy vehicle sales, etc. Shareholder information shows that the company is wholly owned by Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co., Ltd.
According to previous reports, JD.com has already laid out areas such as auto maintenance, and has also launched auto parts products in cooperation with Xiaomi Auto, Tesla, Dongfeng Nissan, etc., but it does not have a direct vehicle sales business. (IT Home)
TSMC becomes Asia's first tech company to surpass $1 trillion in market value
TSMC became the first Asian technology company to have a market value of over $1 trillion, and the first non-US technology company to have a market value of over $1 trillion. Its success was mainly due to the excellent performance of its third-quarter financial report, with operating income increasing by 39% year-on-year and net profit surging by 54%.
TSMC has achieved such success, on the one hand, because it focuses on integrated circuit manufacturing services, and on the other hand, because it has advanced process technology. At the same time, companies such as Intel and Samsung have fallen behind due to various problems. The challenge TSMC is currently facing is insufficient production capacity for advanced processes, and its production capacity construction in Arizona, the United States is still in progress. (Readhub)
Xiaomi successfully taped out China's first 3nm mobile phone system-on-chip
According to Beijing TV, Tang Jianguo, chief economist of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, said that Xiaomi has successfully taped out the first 3nm mobile phone system-level chip in China. Tape-out means manufacturing chips through a series of process steps like an assembly line. In simple terms, the chip company will hand over the designed solution to the wafer manufacturing plant, which will first produce a small number of samples to test whether the designed chip can be used, and decide whether to optimize or mass-produce it based on the test results.
In order to test whether the integrated circuit design is successful, tape-out must be carried out, which is also an important reason why chip design companies generally need to invest a lot of costs in the early stage. (Fast Technology)
International News
FOREIGN NEWS
A large number of employees jumped to competitors, Samsung's performance was sluggish and there were rumors of layoffs
Since Samsung apologized for its third-quarter earnings below expectations,
there have been increasing reports that Samsung semiconductor engineers are moving to competitors or government-backed research institutes.
Sources mentioned that SK Hynix recently posted a job for three experienced etching engineers, and about 200 engineers currently working at Samsung applied for the position. Meanwhile, the Korea Electronics Technology Research Institute recently posted a job for three researchers. They also said that the position attracted about 50 Ph.D.-level engineers from Samsung's chip business. In addition, they added that the eight employees recently hired by KETI were all from Samsung.
Last month, at a town hall meeting for executives and employees, a Samsung employee asked if the company had ways to retain talent. Lee Jung-bae, head of Samsung Memory, told them to work hard and asked them to encourage those who wanted to leave
to stay. A former employee of Samsung Semiconductor revealed that Samsung used to give employees the highest annual salary in the industry, but now only with bonuses, their salaries are slightly higher than competitors.
According to the company's preliminary third-quarter operating data, its third-quarter operating profit was about 9.1 trillion won, lower than the previously expected 11.5 trillion won. Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman and head of the device solution division of Samsung Electronics, issued an apology statement, saying: "Our performance this time was not as good as market expectations, which has caused people to worry about the company's basic technological competitiveness and future. Many people are talking about the crisis of Samsung Electronics. Our business leaders will take responsibility."
The company's poor performance has also led to rumors of layoffs at Samsung. Earlier, there were reports that Samsung Electronics will lay off up to 30% of its overseas employees in some departments by the end of the year, which will affect jobs in America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Samsung requires the reduction of about 15% of its sales and marketing staff and up to 30% of its administrative staff in its subsidiaries. Samsung has won the title of "World's Best Employer" by Forbes for four consecutive years, but in the latest list released on the 10th, Samsung has fallen to third place. Samsung has not yet responded to the news of layoffs.
(Jiwei.com
)
Cook's interview details Apple's two big bets: not rushing to be the first to launch products, but only making the best
On October 21, The Wall Street Journal published an exclusive interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday. Apple's first head display, Vision Pro, was launched this year, but this mixed reality device encountered a reality test: most consumers are not ready to spend $3,500 on a cool toy. "At the current price of $3,500, Vision Pro is not a mass market product. Now, it is a trial product, and the target audience is those who want to experience tomorrow's technology today. Fortunately, there are enough people in this camp, which is exciting." Cook said.
In addition, the Wall Street Journal reporter heard this sentence again and again in conversations with Apple executives and Cook himself: Not first, but best. "We don't mind not being the first company to launch a product," Cook said. "It turns out that it takes a while to be truly outstanding. It requires repeated iterations and attention to every detail. Sometimes, it takes longer. We would rather launch that excellent product and contribute to people than be the first to launch it. If we can do both, that's great. But if we can only do one of them, then our choice is unquestionable. If you ask 100 people, 100 people will tell you: Make the best product, not the first to launch it." (Phoenix Network Technology)
Boeing CEO plans to shrink business to stop company's woes from worsening
On October 21, the media quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Boeing is exploring the sale of assets, which will not only divest non-core or underperforming departments, but also obtain much-needed cash. In a memo to employees earlier this month, CEO Ortberg said, "The company needs to focus its resources on areas that are critical to its positioning in order to improve performance and innovation."
It is reported that in the face of ongoing strikes and cash flow shortages, Boeing announced plans to lay off about 10% of its employees on October 11, involving about 17,000 employees. It also announced that the delivery of the new Boeing 777X aircraft will be further postponed to 2026, and Boeing will stop producing the 767 freighter, which is mainly used to transport cargo, before 2027.
Boeing expects third-quarter revenue of $17.8 billion and a loss of $9.97 per share. Operating cash outflow was $1.3 billion, and cash and securities investments were $10.5 billion at the end of the quarter. The company will release full data on October 23. (Jiemian News)
Nvidia Blackwell chip orders surge, semiconductor materials ETF rises more than 3%
On October 21, the semiconductor index strengthened during the session. As of 10:35, the semiconductor material ETF (562590) rose 3.40%, and all heavyweight stocks rose. North China Huachuang rose 0.18%, China Micro Semiconductor rose 2.34%, and Shanghai Silicon Industry rose 7.35%. Recently, semiconductor investment has heated up, and the semiconductor material ETF (562590) has received net inflows for 4 consecutive days, with a total of more than 8 million yuan. In the long run, the semiconductor material ETF (562590) has received a net inflow of 69.63 million yuan in the past 60 days.
According to the latest report from TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the Blackwell GB200 chip is expected to start mass shipments in the fourth quarter of 2024. Kuo said that shipments are expected to be between 150,000 and 200,000 units in the fourth quarter, and will increase significantly by 200% to 250% in the first quarter of 2025, reaching 500,000 to 550,000 units. (Daily Economic News)
Microsoft signs five-year technology deal with UK government to provide AI services to public sector
On October 21, at the Microsoft AI Tour London event held this month, the British government announced that it had signed a major agreement with Microsoft that will enable institutions across the UK to have access to more powerful AI tools. The two parties revealed a five-year partnership that will enable the UK public sector to use Microsoft's latest technologies, including the Copilot artificial intelligence platform.
Going forward, the partnership will enable the UK public sector to achieve greater cost savings through the use of Microsoft 365, the Azure cloud platform, business applications, and, for the first time, Microsoft 365 Copilot.
According to the announcements from both parties, the British government also plans to build a new generation of cloud services to help it with digital transformation, and Microsoft will provide support through AI technology. Clare Barclay, CEO of Microsoft UK, said: "AI technology provides a unique opportunity to transform public services and drive economic growth in the UK." (IT Home)
In response to environmental protection calls, Amazon announced the global elimination of plastic bubble pads
On October 22, e-commerce giant Amazon announced in a blog post on October 9 that it would no longer use plastic bubble pads in packaging at all distribution centers around the world from October 2024.
This move responds to the calls from environmental organizations for years to reduce marine plastic pollution and brings positive changes to the cause of environmental protection.
Amazon pointed out in a statement that although plastic bubble pads have been completely eliminated, the company is still working hard to reduce the use of disposable plastics in packaging. In this regard, Matt Littlejohn, senior vice president of strategic affairs at Oceana, a world-renowned environmental organization, said: "The world's largest e-commerce company has stopped using plastic bubble pads worldwide, which is an important victory for protecting the marine ecology." (Bloomberg)
Indonesian battery company forms battery joint venture with CATL subsidiary
On October 21, Indonesia established a battery cell manufacturing joint venture with CATL, the world's largest battery cell manufacturer, which will enable the country to play a greater role in the global battery supply chain.
CATL is working with the Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), a consortium of four state-owned companies: metals and mining companies Indonesia Asahan Aluminium PT and Aneka Tambang PT, national oil and gas company Pertamina PT and power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara PT.
The two entities have pledged to invest $1.18 billion to build a battery cell plant with an annual production capacity of 15GWh, which is expected to be put into commercial operation in 2027. The deal is part of CATL and IBC's $6 billion commitment to develop a new energy vehicle battery project in Indonesia covering upstream and downstream businesses. (Bloomberg)
UBS sells 50% stake in Swisscard to American Express
On October 21, UBS Group announced that it would sell part of the Credit Suisse business it acquired last year, specifically selling its 50% stake in credit card provider Swisscard to American Express. After the transaction is completed, American Express will become the sole owner of Swisscard.
Swisscard said in a statement that after the transaction is completed, Credit Suisse's customers will be transferred to UBS's existing credit card platform. Swisscard will continue to issue all other cards under the licenses of American Express, MasterCard and Visa, and will continue to operate American Express's business in Switzerland. The company emphasized that there will be no impact on any cardholders, merchants or partners in the near future. (Guandian.com)
Founder of Muddy Waters: Buy the Seven Big U.S. Stocks with “Blind Eyes”
Carson Block, founder of Muddy Waters, a well-known short-selling organization, said that the U.S. stock market will continue to benefit from capital inflows amid a fairly strong job market, and recommended that investors buy the "Big Seven" technology companies.
The S&P 500 index has repeatedly hit new highs this year, sparking market concerns about valuations. In an interview, Block said that inflows from retirement funds will continue to be the key driver of further gains in the stock market, especially for the stocks with the largest weights. "Maybe don't think too much, just close your eyes and invest in the Big Seven." The "Big Seven" in technology include Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Nvidia and Meta. (Securities Times)
Black Myth: Wukong won the Thailand TGA Game of the Year Award
On October 21, at the Thailand Game Show 2024 held in Thailand from October 10 to 20, Black Myth: Wukong won several heavyweight awards at the Thailand Game Awards 2024 (TGA 2024), including "Best Game Director", "Best Action Game" and "Best PC/Console Game", becoming the biggest winner. (IT Home) (Welcome to add WeChat Who123start
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South Korean automaker KG Mobility: Collaboration with Chery Automobile on future mobility technologies
South Korean automaker KG Mobility announced on October 21 local time that it has established a strategic partnership with Chery Automobile on future mobility technologies. According to the statement, through this cooperation, KG Mobility aims to shorten the development time of new models, expand its model lineup and respond to the "rapidly changing automotive market." (Jiemian News)
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