Pandaily's Digest #20211112
As part of Alibaba’s ongoing efforts to expand internationally, the "Double 11" promotion period offers the firm a key opportunity to get a leg up on its opponents in Europe.
Alibaba Bets Big on Europe for Global Future of ‘Double 11’ Shopping Day
Alibaba’s annual ‘Double 11’ promotional period centered around November 11 is the undisputed king of e-commerce shopping festivals. Since its introduction in 2009, the Chinese tech giant’s commercial bonanza has superseded various other e-commerce holidays in countries around the world by a country mile, with last year’s haul recording a gross merchandise value of nearly $75 billion – larger than the U.S.’ Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping periods put together.
While the festival stands as the largest of its kind in terms of revenue, most of its success can be attributed to the size and fervor of Chinese domestic e-commerce consumers. Alibaba is aiming to change that.
JD.com VP and JDX Department President Xiao Jun Leaves Firm
According to a report by LatePost on Wednesday, Xiao Jun, Vice President of JD.com and President of JDX Department, has recently departed from the company. JDX Department, established in 2016, is the technical lab of JD.com, China’s largest online retailer, responsible for studying smart warehousing and logistics systems and unmanned technology.
Chinese Self-Driving Startup QCraft Enters Into Partnership With Nvidia, Aiming to Commercialize and Mass Produce Level 4 Robobuses and Robotaxis
QCraft, a Chinese startup co-founded by four former engineers of Google’s driverless car project Waymo, announced on Wednesday that the company will adopt U.S. computer graphics giant Nvidia’s Drive Orin automotive system-on-a-chip (SoC) to power its third-generation Level 4 self-driving hardware solution.
Former Tencent Games Designer to Build Cars Equipped With Game Console Concept Steering Wheel, Unveiled at Next Week’s Auto Guangzhou
On Tuesday, Qingcheng Times (Shenzhen) Technology held a brand launch conference in Beijing, with core team members appearing, including founder Bian Biao, CEO Mou Lu, and chief scientific officer (CSO) Tong Xiaoyu. The firm did not announce the first model, but said the new car would show at Auto Guangzhou next week.
Tencent Acquires Japanese Game Studio for $44 Million
According to Chinese media outlet ifeng, insiders said that Tencent had recently acquired about 90% of Wake Up Interactive’s shares, a Japanese game studio. The purchase may have happened in September and might be worth more than 5 billion yen ($44 million). Neither company has responded about the news yet.
JD.com to Invest More Overseas and Further Evaluate European and Vietnamese Markets
It is reported by CNBC on Thursday that Xin Lijun, CEO of JD Retail at JD.com, said the company would increase its overseas investment and is now seeking to expand its international users.
China’s Leading Chipmaker SMIC Undergoes Executive Reshuffle, Q3 Sales Total $1.4 Billion
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s top producer of semiconductors, announced on Thursday that Jiang Shangyi has stepped down as vice chairman, executive director and member of the strategic committee of the board of directors, effective Wednesday. Jiang made the decision because he wanted to spend more time with his family. The announcement stressed that Jiang had no disagreement with the board of directors, which was also confirmed by Jiang himself.
Xiaomi’s Total Omni-Channel Payment Amount Exceeded $2.34 Billion During First Two Hours of Double 11 Shopping Festival
Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi released the payment report of Double 11 Shopping Festival on Thursday. As of 02:00:00 on November 11, the accumulated omni-channel payment amount of Xiaomi Double 11 exceeded 15 billion yuan ($2.34 Billion), which surpassed the amount of 14.3 billion last year.
Chinese EV Startup Hozon Auto Considering $1 Billion Hong Kong IPO
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup Hozon New Energy Automobile Co. is weighing a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) that could raise about $1 billion, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing individuals familiar with the matter.
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