Tag Archives: STW

Flipclutch Research: 5G helps brain-computer interface technology, can WIMI have good performance in the AR field

HONG KONG, Jan. 5, 2021 — With the continuous maturity of the technology and the hard work of various industries, the popularization of 5G networks is no longer a dream.

As the pace of 5G commercialization accelerates, relying on 5G’s enhanced mobile broadband, high reliability, low latency, and massive connection capabilities, AR’s interactive capabilities and operational efficiency will be further improved.

On the one hand, 5G will change the business operation form of AR in terms of product form, user experience, and content applications, and even promote AR as the "last screen" before the brain-computer interface. On the other hand, based on the capabilities of 5G, AR will become the next-generation spatial computing platform and technology cultivation platform.

Brain-computer interface (BCI) refers to the direct connection created between the human or animal brain and external equipment to realize the exchange of information between the brain and the equipment.

From the perspective of the application fields that can be affected by brain-computer interfaces, whether it is medical care, education, or consumption, it will bring huge market space and broad prospects.

Augmented Reality (AR) technology is a technology that ingeniously integrates virtual information with the real world. It uses a variety of technical methods such as multimedia, 3D modeling, real-time tracking and registration, intelligent interaction, and sensing. Computer-generated texts, images, three-dimensional models, music, videos, and other virtual information are simulated and applied to the real world. The two kinds of information complement each other, thus realizing the "enhancement" of the real world.

The technology that can change the traditional computer space from two-dimensional to three-dimensional is holographic technology.

The further development of 5G and AR technology may become a catalyst for the further arrival of the "AR holographic era". As holographic technology gradually penetrates all walks of life, its market prospects will also become very broad.

As a solution provider under 5G, WIMI has a leading AR holographic application platform in China. It is currently mainly used in entertainment, advertising, education, and other industries. Meanwhile, its hardware environment is relatively mature, which is very beneficial to the development of software and content in these fields. WIMI has established a comprehensive and diversified holographic AR content library among all Chinese holographic AR solution providers. WMI Hologram Cloud owns approximately 4654 AR holographic contents, 106 software copyrights, and 219 technical patents.

Due to changes in the bandwidth of 5G communication networks, holographic applications are gradually being applied to social media, communications, navigation, home applications, and other application scenarios. The commercial application scenarios of products are mainly concentrated in five professional fields, including home entertainment, light field theater, performing arts system, commercial publishing system, and advertising display system.

WIMI builds a multi-angle shooting real-time modeling system, a six-degree matrix optical field system, a binocular parallax intelligent enhancement system, and a multi-image dynamic fusion system. Besides, WIMI also has the holographic image high-speed processing algorithm, the stealth polyester optical imaging film, the holographic virtual character voice reconstruction technology, and the holographic cloud platform. The holographic cloud platform is an interactive platform with data storage, image restoration, and holographic social attributes.

WIMI builds a complete 5G holographic communication application platform through the combination of the above systems to support various online terminal and personal device applications. In the meantime, WIMI also expands various mainstream 5G holographic applications, such as holographic social communication, holographic family interaction, holographic star interaction, holographic online education, and holographic online meeting.

Space computing based on 5G and AR will change the way of human-computer interaction and give birth to more technology integration and application scenarios.

Nowadays, the scale of the AR market is showing an accelerated growth momentum around the world. Revenue from the AR and VR markets is expected to double or more in 2021. Since last year, tech giants have entered the AR field, and there is no doubt about the AR wave set off by tech giants.

At present, AR not only affects the way and experience of human-computer interaction, but also empowers the intelligent transformation of various industries by its vertical integration capabilities.

For the AR industry, terminal innovation with lighter weight, high resolution, and larger FOV is the key; 3D stereo, high frame rate content has become a rigid demand; high computing power cloud rendering, low latency encoding, as well as the high bandwidth and low latency capability of fiber and 5G dual gigabit network is the guarantee support.

In the process of AR popularization, 5G plays an important role in this process, 5G+AR has become the new frontier of science and technology. Moreover, AR content applications developed around 5G have gradually increased, and they have been promoted to consumers, and have received positive feedback from the market. There is no doubt that 5G is a catalyst for AR applications, and the development of 5G will accelerate the pace of AR popularization. In the future, AR will integrate into more industrial ecosystems and become an important part of industrial development. WIMI’s vision for the 5G era may also bring more expectations for AR applications.

About Flipclutch

Flipclutch Team is a leading market research company in Hong Kong. They have established a professional and proprietary research platform for financial markets, focusing on emerging growth companies and technologically leading companies. Flipclutch team is professional in market research reports, industry insights & financing trends analysis. For more information, please visit http://www.Flipclutch.com

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Tukatech Offers New Year Gift For First Time Users

ONE Free Month use of any Tukatech software system

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5, 2021 — With the growing popularity of Tukatech’s subscription and web-based services portal, TUKAweb has made many new updates to the site including the shift of software subscriptions to a convenient monthly auto-renewal model. Subscribers will no longer have to pay in advance for each month of use, but now they will be billed automatically until they cancel. This will ensure uninterrupted software access and continued flexibility for any duration needed to use the software.

As a New Year gift to the Industry, new subscribers will be able to try any software package free for 30 days, and receive access to online, self-paced software training courses via the Tuka Academy of Pattern Engineering (TAPE).

The new subscription model is available for all TUKAcad packages – including TUKA APM for automatic pattern making – and the TUKA3D Designer Edition software. Existing subscribers will finish out any time they have paid for under the previous model, then automatically transition to the auto-renewal model when they re-subscribe.

According to Chris Walia, Tukatech’s Chief Operations Officer, the fashion businesses who have switched from physical software keys or dongles tend to prefer the cloud-based license subscription. This has been an especially popular option during the pandemic, with many professionals needing to work remotely.

Walia says, "We see new TUKAcad and TUKA3D DE Visualizer subscribers every day. Software subscriptions in the apparel industry will be the norm, even after the pandemic."

TUKAgroup Founder and Chairman, Ram Sareen believes the software subscription model is the only way for the fashion industry technology sector to move forward. This model, he says, will reduce the barrier to entry for new fashion businesses, and give them access to technology that reduces their product development time. With his methods and recommended processes, apparel companies can save 50% or more on people and time.

The reason for the 30-day free software trial, Sareen explains is that he "Wanted to give a special gift to the industry and help them jump start using and learning digital solutions with little or no expenses from their end."

In addition to Tukatech software subscriptions, TUKAweb offers services for CAD data conversion, pattern making, grading, marker making, and 3D sample making. Users can also take advantage of the assets library, which is updated weekly with premade 2D patterns and 3D garments to use as fashion design templates for new styles.

To learn more and get started, visit www.tukaweb.com

About TUKAweb – TUKAweb is a hub of tools and services ideal for fashion entrepreneurs and students.  For more information about TUKAweb 3D sample making service as well as other services offered, visit www.tukaweb.com or email support@tukaweb.com

About Tukatech – Tukatech was founded in 1995 with the objective to have pattern makers create patterns digitally on the computer. On their silver anniversary, Tukatech is an influential fashion technology company known worldwide for innovative solutions and superior technical support. They are the industry’s leading provider of fashion software and machinery for product development, cloud collaboration, and garment manufacturing.

For more information visit: https://tukatech.com/

Logo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/tukatech-offers-new-year-gift-for-first-time-users.jpg

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Tukatech | Fashion Design Technology Software

WiMi Obtained China Compulsory Certification (CCC) for its Hologram Soft Light Cinema Headset

BEIJING, Jan. 4, 2021 — WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc. (Nasdaq: WIMI) ("WiMi" or the "Company"), a leading Hologram AR Technology provider in China, today announced that it obtained the China Compulsory Certification (the "CCC") for its hologram soft light cinema headset. According to the certification documents, which include the electromagnetic compatibility test report, safety test report, and CCC product test report, the Company’s model WMH0D3 portable media player has passed all tests and successfully obtained CCC.

Due to the increasing emphasis on product quality and safety among consumers in the Chinese market, manufacturers continue to improve their product quality. Meanwhile, as the Chinese government continues to refine its policies and certification requirements to strengthen the supervision of product safety and quality, companies have also increased their demands for testing services.

Among these certifications, the CCC is a product evaluation system implemented by the Chinese government as a protection for consumers’ personal health and safety, the environment, and national security. To obtain the CCC, products must comply with Chinese national standards and related technical specifications. Before they can be produced, imported, and sold for public use, products listed in the CCC product catalog must undergo mandatory tests and audits in accordance with compulsory product certification procedures, obtain relevant certifications, and display these certifications on the product package.

In order to better address customer demands, the Company released the hologram soft light cinema headset. The headset has been greatly enhanced in regards to image color management, device connection, and wearing experience. In terms of image color management, the headset offers customers more transparent colors with more delicate picture quality by leveraging its powerful image processing engine in cooperation with SONY. In addition, customers can also connect headsets with drones and professional cameras. The headset’s use of far-focus imaging technology also significantly optimizes customers’ wearing experience by relieving any eye fatigue caused by long-term, short-distance image viewing.

About WIMI Hologram Cloud Inc.

WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc.(NASDAQ: WIMI), whose commercial operations began in 2015, operates an integrated holographic AR application platform in China and has built a comprehensive and diversified holographic AR content library among all holographic AR solution providers in China. Its extensive portfolio includes 4,654 AR holographic contents. The company has also achieved a speed of image processing that is 80 percent faster than the industry average. While most peer companies may identify and capture 40 to 50 blocks of image data within a specific space unit, WiMi collects 500 to 550 data blocks.

Safe Harbor / Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this press release, as well as the Company’s strategic and operational plans, contain forward−looking statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward−looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on Forms 20−F and 6−K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward−looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company’s goals and strategies; the Company’s future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the AR holographic industry; and the Company’s expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its products and services. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and current report on Form 6-K and other documents filed with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable laws. 

Contacts

WIMI Hologram Cloud Inc.
Email: pr@wimiar.com

ICR, LLC
Sharon Zhou
Tel: +1 (646) 975-9495
Email: wimi@icrinc.com

MiniTool Releases Partition Wizard 12.3: Add Portuguese & Enhance Data Recovery

VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 1, 2021 — MiniTool just released Partition Wizard 12.3 on December 28, 2020, which is the third cumulative update this year. This update has Portuguese language package added and the Data Recovery feature upgraded to its latest build.

Portuguese Added

As a cutting-edge disk partitioning utility for Windows computers, MiniTool Partition Wizard is always making efforts to expand its user groups worldwide and improve its user experience. 

Before this update, Partition Wizard has already supported English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Korean and Spanish. This time, MiniTool Partition Wizard 12.3 adds Portuguese option, which helps the program gain popularity worldwide further.

Updated Data Recovery

This update upgrades the Data Recovery feature to the latest build, which adds the following two main features: the ability of scanning specific locations, and the ability of recognizing and recovering data from exFAT partitions.

1.  Recover Data from Specific Locations

Before this update, the Data Recovery feature allows users to scan a specific partition, unallocated space, and the entire hard disk drive. This time, the update adds the Specific Location feature, allowing users to scan computer Desktop, Recycle Bin, and a particular folder, computer SD card. This helps recover data more accurately and faster.

2.  Fully Support exFAT Partitions

The Data Recovery feature allows users to recover data from various file systems, even though the file system is not recognized. For those recognizable file systems, the Data Recovery module will label them in the scanning result. But for those unrecognizable file systems, MiniTool Partition Wizard will list them under the RAW file group.

Partition Wizard 12.3 adds the ability of recognizing exFAT partitions to the Data Recovery feature, allowing users to find and save data more easily from the scanning results, especially if the data that users want to retrieve is in exFAT partitions. Currently, MiniTool Partition Wizard Data Recovery feature can recognize NTFS, FAT, and exFAT file systems.

More Improvements

MiniTool Partition Wizard also brings some small improvements and bug fixes.

About MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool® Software Ltd. is a dedicated software development company, providing customers with complete business software solutions in the data recovery, partition management and data backup & restore industry. 

MiniTool Partition Wizard is MiniTool’s flagship product. With ten years of development, it becomes a full-featured partition manager.

For more information please visit its official sites:
https://www.minitool.com
https://www.partitionwizard.com/

Related Links :

http://www.minitool.com

Wondershare Cares about Consumer Confidence and Builds Deep Connections with Users

As a global leader in the field of digital creativity, Wondershare has always paid attention to users’ behavior and feedback.

VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 31, 2020 — Believing that consumer confidence can drive products to improve, Wondershare highly values every customers’ opinion and has continuously updated product lines based on user experience and feedback, ultimately making a close connection with them.

Wondershare Cares about Consumer Confidence and Builds Deep Connections with Users
Wondershare Cares about Consumer Confidence and Builds Deep Connections with Users

 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, customer experience is transforming fast. Now more than ever, consumers spend more time online and interact with service suppliers 24/7/365. According to research by the American Marketing Association, the conversational marketing platform market will experience stunning growth through 2026.

"As the global environment continues to lean into remote work, the trend pushes every company to transform their digital experiences to address the new customer journey," said Shaan Jahagirdar, Vice President of Wondershare. "The impact between our products and users are a two-way street. No matter the feedback from social media, email, live chat, or other channels, we all listen to and follow up to improve them."

  • Wondershare Follows User Stories and Feedback on Social Media

Key opinion leaders (KOL) have been a popular marketing tool for quite a few years already, but recently a shift from key opinion leader to key opinion consumer (KOC) marketing has become a new trend starting in 2020. Different than KOLs, KOCs are real consumers who decide which product they want to try and review without a huge fan base.

Considering the impact of KOCs, Wondershare was compelled to promote a new marketing attempt in that field, which attracted a lot of users to share their stories about Wondershare products on social media including areas such as daily life, gaming, technology testing, photography, videography, and tutorials.

For example, a 17-year-old boy used Wondershare Filmora to edit "A Day in The Life of a Content Creator" video and published it on his YouTube Channel, which received a lot of praise from other viewers. He replied that these comments greatly encourage him to create more videos through Filmora.

"It’s the most affordable, versatile video editor out there for beginner editors," another user commented for Wondershare Filmora on Twitter. "It isn’t complex for people who want to start making videos and has a friendly user interface."

These online reviews are highly important for other users’ decision-making process. To spread more credible voices and build brand awareness, Wondershare will encourage and support more users to share their own opinions and product reviews with the objective of understanding their feedback on social media.

  • Users Participate in the Improvement of Wondershare Products

On the other hand, Wondershare also concentrated on improving the user experience. This November, Wondershare established a "Wondershare Ambassador" volunteer team in Japan, to help the product to move more in line with the localized market. Those who are interested can apply to participate in either display of software, operation, or new features.

In the first stage, the recruitment team received more than 300 application emails with a lot of attachments such as picture descriptions and video recordings. The feedback contained various aspects from the copyright issues, product use issues, suggestions, and other comments for Wondershare product lines.

So far, there are 40 volunteers who have become ambassadors and keep in touch with the team. The next time the product upgrades, Wondershare can contact them to receive more feedback. Plus, Wondershare will build a deeper cooperation with them, such as helping them become KOCs who can continuously provide optimization suggestions and content regarding products.

Although it has been a tough and challenging year for everyone, there can still be some hope and joy taken from the ordeal. Wondershare cares about product services and user experience. With rapid development, Wondershare will continue to strengthen the tracking of user’s feedback and upgrade products, to blend the humanity of the brand with the creativity of users.

For all the latest news and updates, please visit the official website or follow us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact
Ellen Cheng
Wondershare
ellenc@wondershare.com 

Victor Ai awarded Forbes 2020 Top 100 Venture Capitalist in China

BEIJING, Dec. 31, 2020 — Recently, Forbes released the 2020 Top 100 Venture Capitalist list in China, the definitive ranking of the top investors of this year. Victor Ai is awarded one of the top 100 venture capitalists of this year in China. He is recognized for his excellent leadership and investment capabilities, and pioneer entrepreneurial initiatives in the field of cutting-edge smart economies. Neil Shen from Sequoia China, Hans Tung from GGV Capital and Hurst Lin from DCM Capital are among the list.

This list is created to honor and acclaim the individuals who remain clear-eyed and eager to invest in growth and innovation in China. Victor Ai stands out in 2020 as the one among the most world-renowned individuals for his forward-thinking, strategic management and strong leadership skills. Over the past 11 years, he has closed over 100 deals with an AUM exceeding USD 10 billion. Over the last four years he has closed a series of signature deals in the new economy sector including amongst others, SenseTime, iQiyi, Netease Cloud Music, Xpeng Motors, NIO, Meituan as well as JD Logistics and China UnionPay.

In addition to his distinguished work in investment, Victor Ai is also a successful and forward-thinking entrepreneur. He founded Terminus Group in 2015, a world leading smart service provider, pioneering the new wave of high technology. Terminus Group always seeks to refine its business solutions and takes pride in its advancements made in the field of artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) and AI CITY establishment worldwide. As the only Chinese Premier Partner of the Expo 2020 Dubai, Terminus Group will be more active on international markets and further expand into Middle East, Southeast Asia and others.

By continuously refining its AI CITY projects, Terminus Group remains persistent in integrating more advanced digital solutions into one holistic multi-purpose digital platform to achieve the highest standard of urban digital services. Terminus Group will continue to contribute to the rapidly transforming world by creating valuable partnerships, engaging people, and eventually leading the era of the digital transformation worldwide.

According to Forbes, 29 Chinese companies went public on the U.S. stock exchanges, eight of which accomplished that goal in the third quarter of 2020. The total number of Chinese companies listed on the stock exchanges has reached 290, with the year 2020 surpassing the numbers from the last year by far.

About Forbes 2020 Top 100 Venture Capitalist in China

The list recognizes top 100 venture capitalists in China. It closely monitors the performance of China’s 200 most robust venture capital firms, which all have taken amazing opportunities by both being ahead of the curve and making even bigger and more aggressive bets on their future success. This data-driven list has been created based on the interviews with the investors and qualitative analysis of submissions by the companies’ partners in the past 5 years. 

LAIX Inc. Announces Result of Annual General Meeting

SHANGHAI, Dec. 31, 2020 — LAIX Inc. (NYSE: LAIX) ("LAIX" or the "Company"), an artificial intelligence (AI) company in China that creates and delivers products and services to popularize English learning, today announced that, at its annual general meeting of shareholders held today, shareholders of the Company adopted the following resolution as a special resolution proposed by the Company:

"THAT the Company’s Fifth Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association be amended and restated by the deletion in their entirety and by the substitution in their place of the Sixth Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, substantially in the form attached to the Notice of Annual General Meeting dated November 20, 2020 as Exhibit A."

About LAIX Inc.

LAIX Inc. ("LAIX" or the "Company") is an artificial intelligence (AI) company in China that creates and delivers products and services to popularize English learning. Its proprietary AI teacher utilizes cutting-edge deep learning and adaptive learning technologies, big data, well-established education pedagogies and the mobile internet. LAIX believes its innovative approach fundamentally transforms learning. LAIX provides its products and services on demand via its mobile apps, primarily its flagship "English Liulishuo" mobile app launched in 2013. On the Company’s platform, AI technologies are seamlessly integrated with diverse learning content incorporating well-established language learning pedagogies, gamified features and strong social elements to deliver an engaging, adaptive learning experience. LAIX provides a variety of courses inspired by a broad range of topics and culture themes to make English learning more interesting and is committed to offering a fun, interactive learning environment to motivate and engage its users.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

LAIX Inc.
Harry He
Investor Relations
E-mail: ir@laix.com

Related Links :

http://www.liulishuo.com

China Finance Online Reports Third Quarter and First Nine Months of 2020 Unaudited Financial Results

BEIJING, Dec. 30, 2020 — China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese individual investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter and first nine months ended September 30, 2020.

Third Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights and Recent Development

  • The bottom line losses continued to narrow year-over-year.
  • Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $1.5 million, compared with a net loss of $2.1 million in the third quarter of 2019.
  • Net revenues grew 32.9% year-over-year and 9.8% quarter-over-quarter to $10.7 million.
  • Revenues from the financial information and advisory business, accounted for 46.5% total revenue in the third quarter of 2020, were up 108.0% year-over-year to $5.0 million, powered by 139.6% growth in individual investor subscription and 176.3% growth in investment advisory services.
  • Due to the growth of financial information and advisory business, gross margin increased to 64.4% from 62.3% in the third quarter of 2019 and 63.3% in the second quarter of 2020.
  • In the 2020 China Robo-Advisor Industry report recently published by Tsinghua University, Lingxi Robo-Advisor ("Lingxi") won the Top 10 Best Robo-Advisors.

First Nine Months of 2020 Highlights

  • Net revenues were $30.3 million compared with $26.8 million in the first nine months of 2019.
  • Revenues from the financial information and advisory business grew 54.1% year-over-year and accounted for 43.2% of total revenues in the first nine months of 2020.
  • Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $4.9 million, compared with a net loss of $7.9 million in the first nine months of 2019.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented that "During the third quarter, we continued to expand our top line as our financial information and advisory business experienced robust growth in a market that participation keeps reaching new highs among retail investors. We are pleased that our years of accumulated experience in fintech and wealth management are gaining popularity and showing results. Through our product mix change and vigorous cost controls, we further reduced our bottom-line loss in the third quarter as well."

"As a professional financial media, we continued to retain our leadership and market influence. On October 16th, the prestigious Hurun Institute published its 2020 Hurun China’s Most Influential Financial Media report and awarded China Finance Online as a Top 8 Most Influential Financial Media. We continue to promote innovations and the rise of short-form videos demonstrates how new media is becoming the new entry point for online traffic. As a professional financial media provider, we have strengthened our new media operation to deliver our enriched content to audiences through different channels. With our original content and proprietary programs, we made substantial strides in the popular short-form video social media, DouYin. In recent years, we also have been providing value-added services to public companies listed on domestic and international exchanges which helped grow our revenue in the third quarter."

"In addition, our fintech offerings to empower wealth management buy-side services began to bear fruit. Our one-stop wealth management service platform, i-TAMP, not only empowers investment advisors and wealth managers, but helps elevate their service efficiency and professionalism. Our i-TAMP has supported more than 100 third-party platforms and reached nearly 40 million individual investors. With the growing scale of the platform, our revenue from services for individual investors increased significantly during the third quarter."

"Our two-year-old robo-advisor, Lingxi, remains committed to providing personalized services for global asset allocation to the vast investor population. Lingxi’s outstanding performance didn’t go unnoticed by the financial industry and academia. In the 2020 China Robo-Advisor Industry report recently published by Tsinghua University, Lingxi won as the Top 10 Best Robo-Advisors."

"On the institutional wealth management service front, we are forming partnerships with more and more financial institutions. With the growing popularity of our content, our services in investor education drew increasingly more attention and won projects from leading financial institutions. We strongly believe that China presents a massive market opportunity in wealth management. We will continue to develop and upgrade our technologies, products and services to empower the wealth management sector in China," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Net revenues were $10.7 million, compared with $8.1 million during the third quarter of 2019 and $9.7 million during the second quarter of 2020. During the third quarter of 2020, revenues from financial services, the financial information and advisory business, advertising business and enterprise value-added services contributed 29%, 47%, 15% and 9% of the net revenues, respectively, compared with 45%, 30%, 17% and 9%, respectively, for the corresponding period in 2019.

Revenues from financial services were $3.1 million, compared with $3.6 million during the third quarter of 2019 and $3.2 million during the second quarter of 2020. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases in revenues from financial services were mainly due to reduced revenue from the equity brokerage business.

Revenues from the financial information and advisory business were $5.0 million, compared with $2.4 million during the third quarter of 2019 and $4.6 million in the second quarter of 2020. Revenues from the financial information and advisory business were mainly comprised of subscription services from individual and institutional customers and financial advisory services. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter increases in revenues from the financial information and advisory business were mainly due to the fast-growing investment advisory services and subscription fees from individual investors. During the third quarter, revenue from the individual investors subscription business rose by 139.6% from third quarter of 2019 and 9.5% from the second quarter of 2020. Investment advisory services also registered strong growth with an increase of 176.3% from the third quarter of 2019 and an increase of 11.0% from the second quarter of 2020.

Revenues from the advertising business were $1.6 million, compared with $1.3 million in the third quarter of 2019 and $1.0 million in the second quarter of 2020.

Revenues from enterprise value-added services were $1.0 million, compared with $0.7 million in the third quarter of 2019 and $0.9 million in the second quarter of 2020. Enterprise value-added services are a relatively new service that came out of our advertising business. Leveraging its accumulated large corporate data and research and increasing audience base online, China Finance Online provides professional communication services to companies listed on domestic or international markets to increase their visibility in the market.

Gross profit was $6.9 million, compared with $5.0 million in the third quarter of 2019 and $6.2 million in the second quarter of 2020. Gross margin in the third quarter was 64.4%, compared with 62.3% in the third quarter of 2019 and 63.3% in the second quarter of 2020. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter increases in gross margin were mainly due to increased revenue contribution from individual subscription services and financial advisory services which have higher gross margin.

General and administrative expenses were $2.2 million, compared with $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2019, and $2.3 million in the second quarter of 2020. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases were mainly attributable to further streamlining of the corporate managerial operations.

Sales and marketing expenses were $4.5 million, compared with $2.8 million in the third quarter of 2019, and $4.1 million in the second quarter of 2020. The year-over-year increase was mainly attributable to higher marketing expenses related to the investment advisory business.

Research and development expenses were $2.0 million, compared with $2.2 million in the third quarter of 2019 and $2.0 million in the second quarter of 2020. The year-over-year decrease was mainly attributable to improved efficiency after consolidation of research and development teams throughout different business units. The Company continues to support research and development in the fintech segment to further develop its fintech capabilities.

Total operating expenses were $8.8 million, compared with $7.3 million in the third quarter of 2019, and $8.4 million in the second quarter of 2020. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter increases were mainly due to higher sales and marketing expenses.

Loss from operations was $1.9 million, compared with a loss from operations of $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2019 and a loss from operations of $2.2 million in the second quarter of 2020.

Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $1.5 million, compared with a net loss of $2.1 million in the third quarter of 2019 and a net loss of $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2020.

Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.66 for the third quarter of 2020, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.91 for the third quarter of 2019 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.65 for the second quarter of 2020. Basic and diluted weighted average numbers of ADSs for the third quarter of 2020 were 2.3 million, compared with basic and diluted weighted average number of ADSs of 2.3 million for the third quarter of 2019. Each ADS represents fifty ordinary shares of the Company.

First Nine Months of 2020 Financial Results

Net revenues for the first nine months of 2020 were $30.3 million, compared with $26.8 million in the first nine months of 2019.

Gross profit for the first nine months of 2020 was $19.0 million, compared with $17.0 million in the first nine months of 2019.

Loss from operations for the first nine months of 2020 was $5.7 million, compared with a loss from operations of $8.0 million in the first nine months of 2019.

Net loss attributable to China Finance Online for the first nine months of 2020 was $4.9 million, compared to a net loss of $7.9 million in the first nine months of 2019.

Fully diluted losses per ADS attributable to China Finance Online was $2.14 for the first nine months of 2020, compared with fully diluted loss of $3.43 for the first nine months of 2019.

Recent Developments 

  • Lingxi Robo-Advisor recorded strong performance in the third quarter of 2020 and won Top 10 Best Robo-Advisors

According to our proprietary asset allocation system, our Robo-Advisor product, Lingxi, provides Chinese retail investors with a wide array of investment combinations and personalized global asset allocations through Chinese domestic mutual funds. Since its inception, Lingxi established a solid track record of balancing performance and risk management. During the first nine months of 2020, the Chinese stock market experienced unprecedented volatility. Lingxi once again outclassed most of the peer Robo-Advisor products in the marketplace and outperformed the Shanghai Composite Index. The best strategy of Lingxi posted a return of 13.34% in the first nine months while Shanghai Composite Index had a return of 5.50% during the same period. All strategies of Lingxi managed to control the expected annualized fluctuation under 9.54% while the expected annualized volatility of Shanghai Composite Index reached 22.47% during the same period. In the 2020 China Robo-Advisor Industry report recently published by Tsinghua University, Lingxi won the Top 10 Best Robo-Advisors. The other winners are from among the largest financial institutions.

  • 2020 Leading China Annual Forum

In December 2020, the Company hosted the "2020 Leading China Annual Awards" in Beijing. The key discussions were digital transformation of the financial industry, applications of fintech in wealth management, mutual funds, and pension finance. The conference is committed to promoting the long-term development of the financial industry in China and has received high recognition from financial regulators and institutions. There were senior government officials and over 1100 professionals from nearly 300 financial institutions in attendance at the event.

  • Hurun Report Ranks China Finance Online among the Top 8 Most Influential Financial Media in China

In October 2020, the prestigious Hurun Institute awarded China Finance Online as a Top 8 Most Influential Financial Media in China. This new ranking is based on Hurun Institute’s research of leading Chinese financial media outlets’ public data, website unique visitors, social media followers and article readership. The Chairman of Hurun Institute and researcher-in-chief of the Hurun Report, Rupert Hoogewerf, commented: "In this fast-moving information age, credibility of information source is especially crucial. High-quality original content is the most important determining factor of a media’s competitiveness. This ranking list enables corporates to identify the most influential financial media in China." 

Conference Call Information

The management will host a conference call on December 29, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time December 30, 2020). Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

US: 1-855-823-0291
Hong Kong: 800-963-435
Singapore: 800-616-2312
Mainland China: 800-870-0211 or 400-120-3169
Conference ID: 1688879

Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the conference ID to join the call.

A recording of the call will be available on China Finance Online’s website under the investor relations section.

In addition, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/yenpozzx.

About China Finance Online

China Finance Online Co. Limited is a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese individual investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers. The Company’s prominent flagship portal site, www.jrj.com, is ranked among the top financial websites in China. In addition to the web-based securities trading platform, the Company offers basic financial software, information services and securities investment advisory services to retail investors in China. Through its subsidiary, Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co. Ltd., the Company provides financial database and analytics to institutional customers including domestic financial, research, academic and regulatory institutions. China Finance Online also provides brokerage services in Hong Kong.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements which constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements contained herein reflect management’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the Company. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, this release contains the following forward-looking statements regarding:

  • Liquidity and sources of funding, including our ability to continue operating as a going concern;
  • our prospect and our ability to attract new users;
  • our prospect on building a comprehensive wealth management ecosystem through providing a fully-integrated online communication and securities-trading platform;
  • our prospect on stabilization in cash attrition and improvement of our financial position;
  • our initiatives to address customers’ demand for intuitive online investment platforms and alternative investment opportunities; and
  • the market prospect of the business of securities-trading, securities investment advisory and wealth management.

Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which risk factors and uncertainties include, amongst others, substantial doubt about ability to continue as a going concern, the outbreak of COVID-19 or other health epidemics in China or globally, changing customer needs, regulatory environment and market conditions that we are subject to; the uneven condition of the world and Chinese economies that could lead to volatility in the equity markets and affect our operating results in the coming quarters; the impact of the changing conditions of the mainland Chinese stock market, Hong Kong stock market and global financial markets on our future performance; the unpredictability of our strategic transformation and growth of new businesses; the prospect of our margin-related business and the degree to which our implementation of margin account screening and ongoing monitoring will yield successful outcomes; the degree to which our strategic collaborations with partners will yield successful outcomes; the prospects for China’s high-net-worth and middle-class households; the prospects of equipping our customer specialists with new technology, tools and financial knowledge; wavering investor confidence that could impact our business; and possible non-cash goodwill, intangible assets and investment impairments may adversely affect our net income. Furthermore, we have recurring losses from operation and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our obligation and sustain our operations and face uncertainty as to the operation impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F under "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors". The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

China Finance Online
+86-10-8336-3100
ir@jrj.com

Kevin Theiss
Awaken Advisors
(212) 521-4050
kevin@awakenlab.com

— Tables Follow —

China Finance Online Co. Limited

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands of U.S. dollars)

Sep. 30,

2020

Dec. 31,

2019

Assets

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents

7,093

9,600

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

2,851

2,413

Trust bank balances held on behalf of customers

30,889

36,987

Accounts receivable – margin clients

12,824

13,452

Accounts receivable – others

13,113

12,382

Short-term investments

1,147

Total current assets

66,770

75,981

Property and equipment, net

3,446

4,272

Acquired intangible assets, net

75

75

Equity investments without readily determinable fair value

1,645

1,605

Equity method investment, net

783

767

Right-of-use assets

2,491

3,988

Rental deposits

775

770

Goodwill

109

108

Guarantee fund deposits

219

218

Deferred tax assets

1,277

1,381

Total assets

77,590

89,165

Liabilities and equity

Current liabilities:

Deferred revenue, current (including deferred revenue, current of the consolidated variable
interest entities without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited of $9,217 and $8,061
as of Sep. 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively)

9,916

8,855

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (including accrued expenses and other current
liabilities of the consolidated variable interest entities without recourse to China Finance
Online Co. Limited of $5,454 and $5,068 as of Sep. 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019,
respectively)

18,533

17,420

Amount due to customers for trust bank balances held on behalf of customers (including
amount due to customers for trust bank balances held on behalf of customers of the
consolidated variable interest entities without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited
of $1,082 and $2,110 as of Sep. 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively)

30,889

36,987

Accounts payable (including accounts payable of the consolidated variable interest entities
without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited of $407 and $185 as of Sep. 30, 2020
and December 31, 2019, respectively)

5,251

6,741

Lease liabilities, current (including lease liabilities, current of the consolidated variable
interest entities without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited of $820 and $1,604 as
of Sep. 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively)

2,002

2,243

Income taxes payable (including income taxes payable of the consolidated variable interest
entities without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited of $35 and $44 as of Sep. 30,
2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively)

(35)

177

Total current liabilities

66,556

72,423

Deferred revenue, non-current (including deferred revenue, non-current of the consolidated
variable interest entities without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited of nil and nil
as of Sep 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively)

80

151

Deferred tax liabilities (including deferred tax liabilities of the consolidated variable interest
entities without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited of nil and nil as of Sep. 30,
2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively)

14

15

Lease liabilities, non-current (including lease liabilities, non-current of the consolidated
variable interest entities without recourse to China Finance Online Co. Limited of $273 and
$741 as of Sep. 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively)

225

1,448

Total liabilities

66,875

74,037

Total China Finance Online Co. Limited Shareholders’ equity

21,033

25,156

Noncontrolling interests

(10,318)

(10,028)

Total liabilities and equity

77,590

89,165

 

 

China Finance Online Co. Limited

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(in thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and ADS related data)

Three months ended

Nine months ended

Sep. 30,

2020

Sep. 30,

2019

Jun. 30,

2020

Sep. 30,

2020

Sep. 30,

2019

Net revenues

10,701

8,051

9,745

30,281

26,833

Cost of revenues

(3,812)

(3,036)

(3,577)

(11,312)

(9,826)

Gross profit

6,889

5,015

6,168

18,969

17,007

Operating expenses

General and administrative (including share-based
compensation expenses of $177, $168, $250, $678 and $763
respectively)

(2,223)

(2,290)

(2,254)

(6,703)

(7,488)

Product development (including share-based compensation
expenses of $30, $8, $34, $91 and $38, respectively)

(2,023)

(2,195)

(1,990)

(5,998)

(7,323)

Sales and marketing (includes share-based compensation
expenses of $18, $13, $16, $26 and $46, respectively)

(4,509)

(2,816)

(4,120)

(11,965)

(10,245)

Total operating expenses

(8,755)

(7,301)

(8,364)

(24,666)

(25,056)

Loss from operations

(1,866)

(2,286)

(2,196)

(5,697)

(8,049)

Interest income

4

5

8

17

25

Exchange gain (loss), net

(78)

76

6

(104)

10

Loss on the interest sold and retained noncontrolling
investment

(298)

Income (loss) from equity method investment

(1)

(1)

(2)

(4)

Other income (expense), net

350

79

242

658

36

Loss before income tax expenses

(1,590)

(2,127)

(1,941)

(5,128)

(8,280)

Income tax expenses

(5)

(108)

243

(181)

(574)

Net loss

(1,595)

(2,235)

(1,698)

(5,309)

(8,854)

Less: Net loss attributable to the noncontrolling interest

(74)

(131)

(209)

(379)

(1,001)

Net loss attributable to China Finance Online Co. Limited

(1,521)

(2,104)

(1,489)

(4,930)

(7,853)

Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:

Changes in foreign currency translation adjustment

(76)

(189)

15

105

(124)

Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax

(76)

(189)

15

105

(124)

Comprehensive loss

(1,671)

(2,424)

(1,683)

(5,204)

(8,978)

Less: comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling
interest

(74)

(131)

(209)

(379)

(1,001)

Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to China Finance
Online Co. Limited

(1,597)

(2,293)

(1,474)

(4,825)

(7,977)

Net income (loss) per share attributable to China Finance
Online Co. Limited

Basic and Diluted

(0.01)

(0.02)

(0.01)

(0.04)

(0.07)

Net income (loss) per ADS attributable to China Finance
Online Co. Limited

Basic and Diluted

(0.66)

(0.91)

(0.65)

(2.14)

(3.43)

Weighted average ordinary shares

Basic and Diluted

115,060,781

115,060,781

115,060,781

115,060,781

114,561,418

Weighted average ADSs

Basic and Diluted

2,301,216

2,301,216

2,301,216

2,301,216

2,291,228

 

Related Links :

http://www.jrj.com

New Oriental to Report Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results on January 22, 2021

BEIJING, Dec. 29, 2020 — New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc. (the "Company" or "New Oriental") (NYSE: EDU/ 9901.SEHK), the largest provider of private educational services in China, today announced that it will report its financial results for the second quarter ended November 30, 2020, before the U.S. market opens on January 22, 2021. New Oriental’s management will host an earnings conference call at 8 AM on January 22, 2021, U.S. Eastern Time (9 PM on January 22, 2021, Beijing/Hong Kong Time). Participants can join the conference using the below options:

Dialling-in to the conference call:

Please register in advance of the conference, using the link provided below. Upon registering, you will be provided with participant dial-in numbers, passcode and unique registrant ID.

Conference call registration link: https://apac.directeventreg.com/registration/event/1083313.  It will automatically direct you to the registration page of "New Oriental Second Fiscal Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call" where you may fill in your details for RSVP. If it requires you to enter a participant conference ID, please enter "1083313".

In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial in number(s), direct event passcode and registrant ID) provided in the confirmation email received at the point of registering.

Joining the conference call via a live webcast:

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at http://investor.neworiental.org.

Listening to the conference call replay:

A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following number until January 28, 2021:

International:

+61 2 8199 0299

Passcode: 

1083313

About New Oriental

New Oriental is the largest provider of private educational services in China offering a wide range of educational programs, services and products to a varied student population throughout China. New Oriental’s program, service and product offerings consist of K-12 after-school tutoring, test preparation, language training for adults, pre-school education, primary and secondary school education, education materials and distribution, online education, and other services. New Oriental is listed on NYSE (NYSE: EDU) and SEHK (9901.SEHK) respectively. New Oriental’s ADSs, each of which represents one common share. The Hong Kong-listed shares are fully fungible with the ADSs listed on NYSE.

For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://www.neworiental.org/english/.

Contacts

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

Ms. Rita Fong                                                    Ms. Sisi Zhao
FTI Consulting                                                   New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +852 3768 4548                                         Tel: +86-10-6260-5568
Email: rita.fong@fticonsulting.com                    Email: zhaosisi@xdf.cn

Related Links :

http://www.neworiental.org/english/

NetEase Cloud Music Concert by TFBOYS Breaks Guinness World Records for Most Viewed Paid Concert

HANGZHOU, China, Dec. 27, 2020 — NetEase Cloud Music, a leading interactive music streaming service provider in China, today announced that a concert by TFBOYS, one of China’s most popular boybands, held on its platform has broken the Guinness World Records for the most viewed paid concert.

The concert, broadcast on NetEase Cloud Music on August 22nd 2020, was viewed by over 786,000 fans, setting the record title for "the most live viewers for a pay per view music concert on a bespoke platform."

The concept of an online concert is increasingly relevant to music fans and musicians at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has halted live events, and the success of this TFBOYS concert demonstrates NetEase Cloud Music’s ability to proactively explore different approaches to engage users with high quality content and simultaneously diversify monetization channels. Online music concerts have been gaining popularity in China as more and more music platforms explore new methods to monetize entertainment in an increasingly digital age.

In 2020, NetEase Cloud Music continued to develop a range of online live shows, including the "Bedroom Live Music Festival" and a series of other innovative online events, while also exploring further possibilities for other virtual shows. NetEase Cloud Music is currently the most favored online performance platform in China, especially among young users aged under 20, according to data from iiMedia Research, a third-party data mining and analysis organization in China.

NetEase Cloud Music has been highly innovative with content and technology, weaving a variety of cutting-edge technologies into stage effects and online interaction to successfully create an audio-visual treat for the public. For the TFBOYS concert, NetEase Cloud Music used technologies including mixed reality (MR), image overlay and augmented reality (AR) to give the event a more realistic quality when compared to traditional online concerts. For instance, using overlay and AR technology for TFBOY’s song titled "Firefly," countless fireflies were shown flying in a light and shadow forest to create a wonderful dream-like whimsical element.

About NetEase Cloud Music

Launched in 2013 by NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES; HKEX: 9999), NetEase Cloud Music is a leading interactive music streaming service provider in China with more than 800 million registered users and over 30 million tracks. Dedicated to providing an elevated user experience, NetEase Cloud Music provides precise, personalized recommendations, promotes user interaction and creates a strong social community. Its focus on discovering and promoting emerging musicians has made NetEase Cloud Music a destination of choice for exploring new and independent music among music enthusiasts in China. The platform has been recognized as the most popular entertainment app among China’s vibrant Generation Z community.

Please see http://music.163.com/ for more information.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NetEase_Global   

Media Enquiries:

Li Ruohan
NetEase, Inc.
globalpr@service.netease.com
Tel: (+86) 571-8985-2668
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NetEase_Global