Original link: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1733
The U.S. auto industry is also ditching the middle class
According to data from the car shopping site CoPilot, only 8% of new cars in the U.S. market are priced below $30,000, far lower than the 38% before the epidemic. The company’s CEO Pat Ryan (Pat Ryan) said that the current car market is the most expensive in history.
Last year, the annual income threshold for middle-class families in New York was US$56,000. Now, buying a car requires more than half of the annual income of these families.
Model change is one of the main reasons for the rise in car prices. Even before the pandemic, consumer tastes were already gradually shifting from sedans to more expensive SUVs and trucks. New features such as central touchscreens, ambient lighting, 360-degree panoramic images, and heated and cooled seats are also pushing up car prices.
It can not only cater to the needs of consumers, but also increase their own profits. The car factory itself also has the motivation to produce higher-end and more expensive models. Production of those cheaper cars has shrunk accordingly, with Edmunds, another car shopping site, saying that only 0.3% of new cars in the U.S. now cost less than $20,000, compared with 8% five years ago.
According to Edmunds data, in May this year, the average transaction price of new cars in the United States was US$47,892, an increase of nearly 30% over the same period in 2019, and close to the highest level in history. 10% of new car transactions cost more than $70,000, up from 3% five years ago.
In China, although cars are not yet so expensive, the trend of high-end models is also clearly increasing.
According to a report recently released by the Passenger Federation, in the first five months of this year, retail sales of models above 300,000 yuan in China reached 1.046 million, a year-on-year increase of 35.1%. At the same time, the sales volume of models below 300,000 yuan was 6.587 million, with a growth rate of only 0.5%. In the first quarter of this year, the share of cars worth more than 300,000 yuan has also increased from 9.5% in 2020 to 13.9%.
We have checked the price changes of different models in the Chinese auto market since 2011, and found that the overall average price of passenger cars in the Chinese auto market has risen from about 140,000 yuan more than ten years ago to about 180,000 yuan at present. The market is closest, and MPV is the model with the most obvious price increase in the past year. The average price has increased rapidly from less than 200,000 yuan at the beginning of last year to nearly 300,000 yuan.
On the contrary, the average selling price of C-class cars dropped from about 480,000 yuan in 2011 to less than 400,000 yuan. (Qiu Hao)
The World’s 500 Richest People Added $10.83 Million a Day in the First Half of the Year
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 500 richest people in the world added a total of US$852 billion in wealth in the first half of this year, with an average increase of US$10.83 million per person per day. Good half year.
This surge in wealth has been accompanied by a general rise in the stock market. On the one hand, the capital market is gradually getting rid of the shadows of geopolitical conflicts, central bank interest rate hikes, and banking crises. In addition, the AI boom has driven mature technology stocks to rise. In the first half of this year, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 16% and 39% respectively. It was the best first-half performance ever.
Among the top ten richest people in the world, 9 are Americans. Except for Buffett, all of them are closely related to the technology field. In the first half of the year, the 8 US technology tycoons added a total of US$364.2 billion in wealth, accounting for more than 40% of the total increase. The founders of major US Internet companies have dominated the rich list since about 2016.
The biggest increases in net worth were made last month by Musk (+$96.6 billion) and Zuckerberg (+$58.9 billion). Since the beginning of this year, Tesla’s stock has risen by more than 1.1 times, partly due to the stable delivery of electric vehicles and the initial scale effect of the charging network. Meta is up nearly 1.4x, partly because generative AI makes its metaverse vision look more attainable.
Among the top ten richest people, only LVMH boss Bernard Arnault has almost nothing to do with technology. The fields of the 11th to 20th richest people are relatively diverse, including Mexican telecom operators, beauty giant L’Oreal, Indian industrial giants, Zara parent company Inditex, American retailer Wal-Mart, Chinese Nongfu Spring, and American oil refiners.
Seven Chinese tycoons ranked in the top 50 of the wealth list, namely Zhong Suisui, Zhang Yiming, Ma Huateng, Ma Yun, Zeng Yuqun, Ding Lei, and Li Ka-shing, with a total net increase of US$3.53 billion in wealth in the first half of the year. In addition, Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun (Chinese) has a net wealth gain of US$24.1 billion in half a year, and his total assets reached US$38 billion, ranking 34th. (Lin Guangying)
In the first half of the year, the scale of A-share IPO ranked first in the world
In the first half of this year, a total of 173 A-share companies went public, raising a total of 209.74 billion yuan, ranking first in the world.
- Compared with the same period last year, the number of IPOs was 2 more, and the amount of funds raised was nearly one-third less.
- The advantage may continue in the second half of the year. The industry believes that with the implementation of the registration system on the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards in April this year, the number of new shares will continue to increase.
- In addition, agricultural technology giant Syngenta is expected to go public in the second half of the year, and plans to raise 65 billion yuan, which may become the largest IPO since 2010.
The two largest IPOs this year were chipmakers, raising a combined 21.03 billion yuan.
- From 2019 to 2022, two chip makers will raise more than 10 billion yuan in IPOs, namely SMIC (53.23 billion yuan) and Haiguang Information (10.8 billion yuan).
- The largest IPOs in the past five years cover energy, communications, banking, medical care, food and other fields.
In the first half of this year, there were 28 IPOs in the electronic equipment manufacturing industry, accounting for 16% of the total.
- The auto manufacturing industry had 12 IPOs, making the top five total, the most for the same period since 2019.
- The number of IPOs in the information technology service industry fell to 10, falling out of the top five.
The number of new shares that broke was less than last year.
- In the first half of this year, the first-day closing price of new stocks increased by an average of 37.8%; during the same period, the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index rose by 3.65% and 0.10%, and the ChiNext Index fell by 5.62%.
- From 2019 to the same period in 2022, the average closing gains of new shares on the first day are: 42.2%, 99.8%, 163.5%, and 35.9%.
Looking ahead to peers, Hong Kong stock market IPO enthusiasm is expected to improve significantly in the second half of the year, and US stock market may continue to slump.
In the first half of this year, there were 29 IPOs in Hong Kong stocks, and the total amount raised fell to a low of nearly 20 years. But things started to improve in the second quarter. In June this year, 39 companies including Jitu, Black Sesame Smart, and Sagitar Juchuang applied for listing in Hong Kong.
In the first half of the year, the number of IPOs in US stocks decreased by nearly 40% year-on-year, less than one-fifth of the same period in 2021. Many companies have delayed going public as startup valuations have generally fallen sharply from their 2021 highs. The market is expected to pick up at least until next year. (Lin Guangying)
What can the gallium and germanium that China restricts export be used for?
On July 3, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs announced the implementation of export controls on gallium and germanium-related substances, which will be officially implemented on August 1. A reporter asked at today’s press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Is this a counterattack to the US, Japan and the Netherlands’ restrictions on the export of semiconductor equipment? Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded that the Chinese government’s implementation of export controls on related items in accordance with the law is a common international practice and does not target any specific country.
Both gallium and germanium are rare metals, which cannot be directly mined from nature, and are generally produced in small quantities as by-products of refineries. Compared with bulk commodities such as copper and oil, its market size is small. For example, last year, the United States only imported gallium metal and gallium arsenide wafers worth US$225 million.
But both have a wide range of professional uses in areas such as chips, communications and defense. Gallium-related products cover a variety of compound semiconductors such as gallium nitride, which can improve the transmission efficiency of electronic screens, battery panels, radars, etc., and have been listed as strategic minerals by China, the United States, the European Union, and Japan; the terminal demand for germanium is mainly concentrated in Optical fiber communication, infrared detection, solar energy, satellite and other fields.
According to a new EU study, China accounts for 94% of the global gallium supply and 83% of the germanium supply. But if we only look at the reserves, China’s proportion is not so high, and the reserves of gallium and germanium account for about 68% and 41% of the world respectively. (Qiu Hao)
Both Goertek and COSCO’s net profit fell by 70%
A-shares have recently launched a new round of performance forecast expectations, and “Wanwan Finance” observed:
- Kelun Pharmaceutical: The net profit attributable to the parent was 1.36 billion to 1.44 billion yuan, an increase of 56.67% to 65.88% over the same period of the previous year. The profit growth was mainly due to the comprehensive resumption of diagnosis and treatment work in medical institutions, and the company expanded the market for infusion solutions, non-infusion preparations, raw materials, and intermediate products.
- Conba: The net profit attributable to the parent company in the first half of the year is expected to increase by 291 million yuan to 34,100 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 139.40% to 163.35%. In addition to the increase in main business income, Kang Enba transferred 7.84% of the shares of Zhenshiming Company and obtained a net income of 86 million yuan.
- Wanda Movies: In the first half of the year, the operating income was 6.7 billion to 6.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.6% to 39.7%, and the operating performance turned from loss to profit. This year, China’s film market has fully recovered. In the first half of the year, the box office and attendance of Wanda’s domestic theaters recovered to 93.5% and 96.4% of 2019 respectively, which is better than the industry average.
- COSCO SHIPPING Holdings: Net profit from January to June was about 19.66 billion yuan, a decrease of about 74.40% compared with the same period last year. The sharp decline in performance is mainly due to changes in the supply and demand of the container shipping industry. In the first half of 2023, the average value of the China Export Container Freight Index (CCFI) fell by 69.31% year-on-year
- BY-HEALTH: The net profit attributable to the parent was 1.363 billion to 1.572 billion yuan, an increase of 30% to 50% year-on-year. The market demand for multiple categories of products increased and the offline channel operation improved compared with the same period last year.
- Weichai Power: The net profit attributable to the parent company in the first half of the year is expected to be 3.587 billion to 4.065 billion yuan, an increase of 50%-70% over the same period of the previous year, benefiting from the improvement of the domestic economy and the strong demand in the export market.
- Goertek: The net profit attributable to the parent company was 333 million to 498 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of more than 70%. Previously, Apple suspended Goertek’s 3.3 billion AirPods order due to yield issues. (Intern Fu Xiaoyu)
The IPO has been known for a long time丨Automobile intelligent driving solution provider Horn Auto Electric’s first-day increase triggers temporary suspension
A-share 1 company listed today:
- Horn Automotive: Products include vehicle-mounted camera systems, vehicle-mounted video driving recording systems, etc. Downstream customers include Dongfeng Nissan, Geely Automobile, SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Great Wall Motors and other domestic and foreign automakers. Horn Automotive owns a number of self-developed core technologies such as ultrasonic perception, ultrasonic signal calculation and processing, and visual perception. In 2022, its operating income will be 1.079 billion yuan and its net profit will be 104 million yuan. The average speed exceeds 20%. The IPO of Horn Automobile Electric plans to raise funds of 402 million yuan, and the stock price rose by more than 126.27% after the market opened, triggering a temporary suspension of trading.
3 companies apply for purchase:
- Pangu Intelligent: Engaged in the R&D, production and sales of centralized lubrication systems, it is a cooperative supplier of Shanghai Electric, Dongfang Electric, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, General Electric, etc. In the first quarter, the main operating income was 87.7668 million yuan, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 29.0731 million yuan, both of which increased by 40% year-on-year. The company plans to raise 1.41 billion yuan this time, which will be used for the second-phase expansion project of Pangu Lubrication and Hydraulic System Qingdao Smart Manufacturing Center, Pangu Smart (Shanghai) Technology R&D Center project, and supplementary working capital.
- Inwatech: The domestic brand with the largest sales volume of scroll compressors. In the past three years, the sales volume of scroll compressors has ranked sixth in the country, second only to the top five foreign brands. Cooperating suppliers include Gree Electric, Sichuan Changhong, Olikai central air-conditioning, etc. The operating income has increased for three consecutive years, and the operating income in 2022 will be 448 million yuan. Affected by factors such as raw material prices and exchange rates, the gross profit margin has fluctuated to 25.94%. The company intends to raise funds of 529 million yuan.
- Huitong New Materials: engaged in the R&D, production and sales of metal fibers and their products. As of now, Huitong New Materials has no controlling shareholder or actual controller, because major shareholders such as Yiyang High-tech and Guangdong Xinli hold less than 50% of the shares, and promise not to seek or participate in the competition within three years from the date of listing of the company control of the company. In 2022, the company’s operating income will be 187 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.92%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company will be 33.3514 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.35%. The company plans to raise 166 million yuan, which will be used for the annual production of metal fiber projects and supplementary working capital. (Intern Fu Xiaoyu)
OTHER NEWS
The central parity rate of the RMB against the US dollar rebounded for two consecutive days.
According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, on July 4, the central parity rate of RMB against the US dollar was 7.2046 yuan, an increase of 112 basis points from the previous trading day, which was a two-day recovery. Since June 20, the above central price has been lowered for 7 consecutive trading days, with a cumulative drop of 1057 basis points. Since the second quarter of this year, the exchange rate of RMB against the US dollar has depreciated rapidly. The industry believes that it is affected by many factors such as economic slowdown, domestic interest rate cuts, and US interest rate hikes.
In the second half of June, the price of blended coal rose, and the upstream and downstream production materials of oil fell.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with mid-June in late June, the market prices of 19 kinds of means of production rose and 25 kinds fell. Among them, the largest increase is Shanxi Dahuo (5.5%), and the prices of other coal blends are also rising; the biggest decline is caustic soda (-7.6%), caustic soda can be used in refined petroleum, alumina, chemical industry, printing and dyeing and other industries , The demand in the downstream market is insufficient this year.
In addition, the prices of liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, diesel, etc. are also falling, and the price of naphtha, a by-product of petroleum, has fallen to the lowest point in two and a half years. Naphtha is a basic raw material for plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene, and the price drop this time was mainly due to weak demand for naphtha in China’s downstream market.
Central SOEs invested 1.7 trillion yuan in the first five months, and fixed asset investment accounted for nearly 60%.
In the first five months of this year, central SOEs completed an investment of 1.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.5%. Among them, fixed asset investment (excluding real estate) accounted for nearly 60% of the total investment, with a growth rate of 20.4%. According to the People’s Daily, the investment projects of central enterprises in the first five months include: Sichuan-Chongqing section of Chongqing-Kunming High-speed Railway, Jiaozhou Bay Submarine Road Tunnel, Beijing-Xiong Expressway Jingxiong Bridge, Yalong River Kela Phase I Photovoltaic Power Station, Offshore Wind Power in the Northern Sea Area of Fujian unit.
Ali’s claim that “considering injecting Youku and Tudou into Ali Pictures” is not true.
According to sources quoted by the media, Ali is considering the whereabouts of Youku and Tudou, or merging into Ali Pictures, or it may be listed separately or not traded. Ali responded that it was “not true”. Youku and Tudou are respectively the long-form and short-form video platforms under Ali, while Ali Pictures participated in investing in popular films such as “Wolf Warrior 2” and “The Wandering Earth”.
SAIC’s sales in overseas markets from January to June increased by 40% year-on-year, and it will build a factory in Europe.
In the first half of 2023, SAIC will sell a total of 530,000 vehicles in overseas markets, a year-on-year increase of 40%. Among them, the accumulative global sales volume of self-owned brand MG was 370,000, accounting for nearly 70%. Yu De, general manager of SAIC’s International Business Department, said that the overseas sales cycle of automobiles is long, and SAIC’s overseas sales mainly depend on the second quarter. In addition, with the growth of SAIC MG sales in the European market, SAIC will build a factory in Europe.
China could become the world’s largest importer of liquefied natural gas this year.
According to media reports, the volume of liquefied natural gas transactions agreed to by Chinese companies for long-term purchases has ranked first for the third consecutive year. It is expected that China’s LNG imports will double in the next ten years. China has signed a large number of long-term orders for natural gas since 2021. It was once slightly reduced due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, but it soon restarted with the Russia-Ukraine war.
Indian refiners have started using yuan to buy Russian oil.
According to media reports, as Western sanctions exclude Russia from the dollar and euro settlement system, Indian refiners have begun to use yuan to buy some of the oil imported from Russia. In addition to India, most of China’s energy imports from Russia have also been settled in RMB.
Foxconn will invest US$250 million to produce auto parts in Vietnam.
Foxconn recently signed an agreement with the Industrial Park of Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, and plans to build two factories with a total investment of 250 million US dollars, one of which will be used to produce electric vehicle charging equipment and other electronic components, and the other will produce modules and communication components. The factories will employ nearly 2,000 workers in total. Foxconn’s move is intended to increase its electric vehicle business and reduce its dependence on Apple.
Crypto miners turned to training AI models.
As generative AI takes off, GPU chips are back in short supply. More and more cryptocurrency miners have begun to modify idle mining machines, using the GPU chips inside to reorganize computers that can be used to train AI. Take the Spanish company Satoshi Spain as an example. It has hundreds of mining machines equipped with powerful GPUs, which were left idle last year. The founder said “this is mining 2.0”.
In order to keep the 30% commission, Apple took the Epic case to the Supreme Court.
Apple said on Monday it would ask the Supreme Court to reverse a ruling in the Epic case on how the commission was paid. In 2020, “Fortnite” developer Epic sued Apple, hoping that a judge would prohibit it from charging up to 30% commission on in-app turnover. In 2021, the judge rejected most of Epic’s claims, arguing that Apple did not constitute a monopoly through payment channels, but also ruled that Apple cannot prohibit other payment channels within the app. This will prevent Apple from taking a profit from third-party platforms.
Musk drives away users, and Zuckerberg welcomes them with a new app.
Meta’s new social app “Threads” is expected to launch this Thursday. Its positioning is similar to Twitter, which can post pictures and texts, and get likes, comments, and shares. It is reported that Threads was originally planned to be launched at the end of July, but because Twitter users became increasingly dissatisfied, it was decided to launch earlier. Threads share directly with Instagram users and circles instead of cultivating a community from scratch. Instagram currently has more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide, and Twitter has about 300 million.
Meta plans to cooperate with Tencent to sell VR headsets in the Chinese market.
Zuckerberg is negotiating with Tencent that Tencent will become the exclusive distributor of the Meta Quest series, bringing its VR headsets to the Chinese market. As the world’s largest video game publisher, Tencent can also develop VR games for the Quest headset. According to people familiar with the matter, Meta has been negotiating with a number of Chinese technology companies since late last year, including Tencent, Lenovo and some smartphone makers, and finally made progress in negotiations with Tencent. Tencent declined to comment.
In June, wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicle manufacturers reached 740,000 units, up 10% month-on-month.
According to statistics from the Passenger Federation, the top three sales are still BYD, Tesla China and GAC Aian. Among the top ten new energy car companies by sales, only SAIC passenger car sales fell month-on-month, and Geely Automobile and Changan Automobile had the largest growth rates, with a month-on-month increase of about 40%. In addition, although NIO did not enter the top ten, its sales volume exceeded 10,000 again.
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