Week #26: Alibaba's Q2 2024 Report: International Business Revenue Soars 32% to $4.1B | TEMU Overtakes eBay as World's No. 2 E-Commerce Site
Latest news and analysis on China’s global e-sellers
Here’s our pick for last week’s news:
SHEIN Prepares to Open its First British Warehouse
TEMU Overtakes eBay as World's No. 2 E-Commerce Site
TCL Smart Home Reports $1.254B H1 2024 Revenue, with 75% from Overseas
Shenzhen-Based EDIFIE's Overseas Revenue Soars 36% to $86.81 Million
INMO Secures ¥100 Million in Series B Financing
iNVANTi Secures ¥50 Million in Series A+ Funding
Alibaba's Q2 2024 Report: International Business Revenue Soars 32% to $4.1B
RongConn's Parent Company Raises Tens of Millions in New Funding
Dreame Wins Patent Dispute Against Roborock in Germany
Insta360 Founder Liu Draws Attention with Post Amidst Four-Year IPO Delay
SHEIN Prepares to Open its First British Warehouse
Chinese fast fashion giant SHEIN is gearing up to establish its first UK warehouse in preparation for a potential £50 billion listing on the London Stock Exchange. The Singapore-headquartered company is seeking a large site within the Midlands' so-called "golden logistics triangle."
Over the past several months, SHEIN has dispatched representatives to the UK to evaluate potential warehouse sites, conducting around ten inspections in locations including Derby, Daventry, Coventry, and Castle Donington. The company is reportedly favoring a facility already equipped for e-commerce operations, rather than constructing a new site from the ground up.
The final decision on a warehouse will hinge on the outcome of SHEIN's pursuit of a blockbuster debut on the London Stock Exchange, as well as ongoing negotiations with its current third-party logistics provider, Super Smart Service, which currently manages the company's UK orders from a warehouse in Cannock.
SHEIN has retained the services of property consultants JLL and Savills to advise on its search. The company is expected to finalize its choice of location by the end of the year, with warehouse operations slated to commence by the third quarter of next year.
TEMU Overtakes eBay as World's No. 2 E-Commerce Site
TEMU has surpassed eBay to become the world's second most-visited e-commerce site, with nearly 700 million visits each month. Keep in mind that TEMU's sales mostly happen on the app, not the website. Data from SimilarWeb reveals that AliExpress, TEMU, and SHEIN are now 50% of Amazon.com traffic.
Additionally, a study by Gemius Turkey conducted from July 12 to August 6 found that TEMU has 9.3 million monthly active users and 1.4 million daily active users in Turkey.
TCL Smart Home Reports $1.254B H1 2024 Revenue, with 75% from Overseas
TCL Smart Home, formerly known as Homa Appliances, reported a total revenue of ¥1.254 billion for the first half of 2024, up 24.74% year-on-year, with net profit soard by 32.65% to $78.28 million. The growth in revenue was largely driven by a surge in overseas ODM orders and strong exports of their refrigerators.
In the first half of the year, the company's overseas revenue rose by 38% to $931.08 million, making up 74% of total revenue, while revenue from TCL's own brands abroad jumped by 54% year-on-year.
TCL Smart Home specializes in refrigerators, freezers, and washing machines under the Aoma and TCL brands, As of 2023, TCL Smart Home has maintained its position as China's top exporter of refrigerators for 15 consecutive years and as the leading exporter to Europe for 16 consecutive years.
TCL's strong performance is in line with the recovery of China's home appliance exports. Customs data show that from January to June, China exported 39.8 million refrigerators, a 25.6% increase year-on-year, and 16.22 million washing machines, up 22.8%.
Shenzhen-Based EDIFIE's Overseas Revenue Soars 36% to $86.81 Million
Shenzhen-based EDIFIER saw its revenue jump to $367.37 million, a 21.64% increase from the previous year, with net profits rising by 70.6% to $52.92 million and overseas revenue up by 36% to $86.81 million. The company's headphone division alone generated $250.77 million, which is 66.49% of its total revenue, with a year-on-year growth of 22.48%. EDIFIER also shipped 5.5 million pairs of TWS headphones, placing it among the top 10 global TWS brands.
Founded in 1996, Edifier is an audio equipment manufacturer specializing in speakers, music systems, and headphones for personal and home entertainment. Up to now, Edifier has entered over 80 countries and regions, including major markets like Germany, the UK, the US, and Japan, supported by an international team in product development and sales.
Other headphone brands have also entered the open-ear headphone market since Q2 2023. Companies like Nank and Shokz have been early players in the OWS(Open Wearable Stereo) segment, while Huawei, Bose, and Anker Innovations have rolled out their non-in-ear open-ear headphones in Q4 2023, now available for purchase.
INMO Secures ¥100 Million in Series B Financing
The AR smart glasses brand INMO has recently raised close to ¥100 million ($14 million) in a Series B financing.
Since its launch in 2020, INMO has focus on the AR technology, aiming to integrate cutting-edge tech into smart glasses. The company's main business involves R&D, design, and solutions for smart glasses, with a core team from Coolpad, Huawei, TCL and Peking University's chip lab.
As a key partner of Epson and Qualcomm's only designated XR partner at the 2021 MWC, INMO's products are already widely used in cultural tourism, archiving, and industry. INMO's AR smart glasses also cater to those gaming, sports, and travel consumers. In 2023, INMO introduced INMO GO, the world's first AI-integrated AR smart glasses, known for being lightweight and stylish, and seen as a strong competitor to Meta's glasses.
INMO's products are now sold in over 100 countries. The company has also hinted at a big new product launch by the end of this year.
iNVANTi Secures ¥50 Million in Series A+ Funding
iNVANTi has raised ¥50 million ($7 million) in Series A+ funding. The new funds will be used to ramp up production, expand overseas channels, and enhance marketing efforts abroad. Established in 2012, iNVANTi's offerings include electric self-balance scooters, eScooters and E-bikes.
iNVANTi made its move into the E-bike market abroad in 2023. With over ten years of experience in e-mobility technology, the company entered the North American market with its eScooter, focusing on e-commerce platforms.
Despite the market being dominated by Segway-Ninebot and Xiaomi, iNVANTi achieved $14 million in sales within six months, ranking second in the Kick Scooter on Amazon U.S. and topping Amazon Canada's Best Seller list in March.
Alibaba's Q2 2024 Report: International Business Revenue Soars 32% to $4.1B
Alibaba has released its financial report for Q1 FY2025 (namely Q2 2024). The company reported revenue of $34.07 billion for the quarter, up 4% from last year. The Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group saw its revenue up by 32% to $4.1 billion, driven by a 38% growth in international retail. Cainiao Group also saw strong results, with a 16% revenue increase to $3.76 billion, making it the second-fastest-growing segment.
The boost in performance came from the rise in cross-border business, especially through AliExpress Choice. Orders on AliExpress continue to rise quickly, and the company is working with Cainiao to further improve logistics and cut down delivery times.
"We are focusing on enhancing the synergy between Cainiao and our cross-border e-commerce business by developing a highly digitalized global logistics network to boost our end-to-end service," the report wrote.
In Latin America, AliExpress has teamed up with Brazil's largest offline retailer, Magalu. In Southeast Asia, Lazada turned a profit in July, and CEO Dong Zheng has promised continued investment. Alibaba's management has also expressed a desire to bring domestic platforms like Taobao and 1688 into international markets.
RongConn's Parent Company Raises Tens of Millions in New Funding
RongConn's parent company has secured a substantial round of funding amounting to tens of millions of RMB. This investment will be directed towards R&D, market growth, and team expansion.
RingConn, a Shenzhen brand that launched in 2023, has quickly risen to become the second-largest player in the smart ring market, just behind Finland's Oura Ring. The company first gained traction through international crowdfunding, raising $1.2 million in just 50 days. Since the launch of its DTC site in June 2023, RingConn has sold over 20,000 smart rings and attracted more than 40,000 users worldwide, earning tens of millions of RMB.
RingConn's smart ring features health and sleep tracking. The new RingConn Gen 2 can monitor sleep apnea, stress, blood oxygen levels, and track various activities like cycling, running, and swimming. The Gen 2 has been supported by over 10,000 backers on Kickstarter and has raised over $2.5 million, well beyond its original target.
Market.us reports that the smart ring market was valued at $2.67 billion in 2022. RongConn expects the market to hit an annual volume of 10 million units in the next five years. Right now, 70% of RingConn's users are from the U.S., aged 35 to 55, a group highly focused on health and seeking continuous health monitoring.
Dreame Wins Patent Dispute Against Roborock in Germany
On August 13, 2024, the Düsseldorf District Court in Germany ruled in favor of Dreame Innovation Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. against Roborock Germany GmbH in a patent dispute over mopping technology in cleaning devices. The court ordered Roborock to stop selling, using, and importing the infringing products in Germany, with penalties of up to €250,000 per violation, and potential imprisonment for company representatives if violations persist. This decision could have a significant impact on Roborock's related products in Germany.
Ecovacs, Roborock, and Dreame are the top three Chinese robotic vacuum brands, all of which consider the German market crucial. Ecovacs, established in 2006, was the first to expand abroad, setting up its European headquarters in Germany and leading the market in 2017 with a 34.1% share.
Roborock, founded in 2014, quickly gained ground, with a strong presence in the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific markets, with operations in several countries, including Germany. Dreame, the newest of the three, has rapidly gained market share, achieving a 37.9% share in Germany by early 2024. The intense competition in Germany likely fueled the ongoing patent disputes between Dreame and Roborock.
Insta360 Founder Liu Draws Attention with Post Amidst Four-Year IPO Delay
Liu Jingkang, founder of Insta360, recently sparked industry interest with a lengthy post on WeChat Moments. His post came as Insta360, which has been pursuing an IPO since July 2020 with CITIC Securities, finds itself still waiting for approval after four years. Although the company passed the STAR Market listing committee's review in 2021, no further progress has been made since a site inspection in 2022.
Liu shared that Insta360 has seen significant growth during this time, with revenues quadrupling, surpassing GoPro in market share earlier this year. Last year, the company generated $400 million in exports, paid a ton of taxes, and earned impressive profits. It has also been recognized twice by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative companies and was also named by Google as one of China's top 50 global brands.
In a follow-up post on August 15, Liu explained that Insta360 might revise or withdraw its IPO plans to avoid unnecessary attention, choosing instead to focus on its businesses. He also hinted at five new products launching this year.
Since its founding in 2015, Insta360 has consistently advanced in the smart imaging sector. The company saw its revenue cross $140.07 million in 2021 and doubled it to over $280.14 million in 2022. In 2023, it reached nearly $560.28 million, with about 80% of its sales coming from overseas markets like Europe, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. Today, Insta360's products are sold in more than 200 countries and regions.