Megvii Technology Ltd (曠視科技) for the first time revealed the stunning growth fueled by a nation’s obsession with security.
The start-up backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) tripled its revenue to 949 million yuan (US$133 million) in the first half of the year.
It generated more than 73 percent of those sales from artificial-intelligence (AI) services for major clients, such as government agencies, hospitals and real-estate developers, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Seven-year-old Megvii is said to be angling to raise as much as US$1 billion in its initial public offering (IPO), becoming the first of China’s fast-rising AI stars to debut and beating Sensetime Group Ltd (商湯科技) to the punch.
However, its share sale will run up against a host of uncertainties from violent pro-democracy protests that have gripped Hong Kong to US President Donald Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive campaign to contain China’s tech champions.
Megvii generates the bulk of its revenue from products that combine software and sensors to help government agencies and other clients enhance public safety and optimize traffic management.
Sales from that business, which it labeled “city IoT solutions,” jumped 270 percent to 694.8 million yuan in the first six months.
Megvii said it served 112 cities in China, 38 percent of the nation’s total, as of June. It posted 5.2 billion yuan in losses for the first half, while adjusted profit reached 32.7 million yuan.
In a list of risk factors, Megvii warned of possible economic and trade restrictions similar to curbs imposed on Huawei Technologies Co (華為). Should that happen, it would prevent the company from procuring technology and impair its ability to develop solutions.
The company added that it has made sure it is compliant with relevant restrictions, while making contingency plans to minimize the negative impact of potential curbs.
Megvii also warned that sanctions on sales of US technology to Huawei might roil industries from consumer electronics to telecommunications.
“Prolonged restrictions against Huawei could cause a turmoil to all such industries, which may in turn materially and adversely affect our business,” it said.
Megvii also sells face-scanning systems to companies from iPhone maker Foxconn Technology Group (富士康) to Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Ant Financial Services Group (螞蟻金服), the payments affiliate that supports Alibaba’s e-commerce business.
The company generated 207.2 million yuan from the segment it dubs “personal IoT solutions,” or 21.8 percent of its revenue.
Its third major business line, solutions for logistics that deploy AI-empowered robots and sensors, made up about 5 percent of revenue.
Megvii counts Alibaba and its financial affiliate Ant Financial, Lenovo and China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) as strategic investors.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS