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<a href="/company/bytedance">ByteDance’s</a> overseas revenue grew by nearly 50% in 2025, far outpacing the roughly 20% increase in its domestic revenue, according to sources familiar with the matter, as reported by 36Kr. The share of revenue from its overseas business rose from 25% in 2024 to more than 30%, a record high.
TikTok’s e-commerce business was the main driver of that growth. TikTok Shop’s gross merchandise value (GMV), increased by nearly 70% year-on-year in 2025, according to the same sources. This growth lifted the share of ByteDance’s overseas revenue and helped TikTok post a substantial profit in 2025. The profit figure was not disclosed.
However, even as overseas operations pushed revenue higher, ByteDance’s net profit fell by more than 70% in 2025. The decline was said to stem from a sharp increase in investment in <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> in the third and fourth quarters. The higher spending also reduced the company’s net profit margin compared with a year earlier.
36Kr sought comment from a ByteDance representative on these figures but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Over the past year, two issues drew the most attention to ByteDance beyond its operating plans for TikTok in the US: the rapid growth of its international e-commerce business and its increased investment in AI.
On international e-commerce, an earlier report from <a href="https://en.jiemian.com/article/13852848.html">Jiemian News</a> said TikTok Shop reached 400 million active consumers in 2025, with GMV approaching USD 100 billion. Research firm EchoTik estimated that TikTok Shop’s GMV in the third quarter of 2025 was comparable to that of eBay.
Jiemian News also reported that TikTok Shop’s GMV in overseas markets in December alone exceeded that of Shopee. By region, <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/press-releases/tiktok-shop-makes-up-nearly-20-of-social-commerce-in-2025/">eMarketer</a> reported that TikTok Shop’s sales in the US rose 108% in 2025.
In Southeast Asia, TikTok Shop has become the second largest player after Shopee and is closing the gap, according to research firm Momentum Works. Latin America and Japan were new markets for TikTok Shop in 2025. In Brazil, GMV reportedly grew about 25 times in the first three months after launch.
On AI investment, sources cited by 36Kr said ByteDance recently told shareholders it expects spending on technical resources to increase further in 2026. Combined with the impact of a newly established data security joint venture in the US, the company’s net profit margin is expected to remain under pressure in the near term.
Earlier reports indicated that ByteDance’s total capital expenditures would rise again this year, with more than half of the increase allocated to infrastructure to support computing demand for training and inference of large models. ByteDance did not comment on that report.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3774566936216064">article</a> was written by Li Xiaoxia for 36Kr.

ByteDance’s global e-commerce push lifts revenue as AI costs mount

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East Asia

TikTok Shop

China

E-commerce

Consumer Economy

<a href="/company/xiaomi">Xiaomi</a> announced on April 17 in an internal email that Hu Zhengnan had been appointed vice president of Xiaomi and CTO of its automotive division, while Song Gang had been named vice president of the automotive division and chief of staff, sources told 36Kr. It marks the first time Xiaomi has created a CTO role for its car business since announcing the unit’s establishment in 2021.
According to 36Kr, both executives bring more than two decades of experience in the automotive sector.
Xiaomi currently has nearly 10,000 R&amp;D employees in its automotive business. With a growing number of industry specialists joining, it is accelerating the buildout of a full-chain talent system spanning R&amp;D, design, manufacturing, safety, and supply chain.
Hu Zhengnan’s move to Xiaomi appears to be a two-way decision shaped by years of observation and validation.
Hu entered the automotive sector in 1997 and now has nearly three decades of experience. He is widely regarded as a leading full-vehicle engineering expert from the generation that drove the rise of China’s automotive sector.
His career mirrors the evolution of China’s homegrown car brands. In 1997, he joined the Shanghai Automotive Industry Technical Center as an engineer. In 2000, he co-founded Launch Design and helped lead development of the <a href="/company/byd">BYD</a> F3, a model that topped China’s A-class sedan market for multiple consecutive years and laid the foundation for BYD’s transition from batteries to full vehicle manufacturing.
He also contributed to the engineering and development of the Haval H6, which opened up China’s compact SUV market and held the domestic SUV sales lead for more than 100 cumulative months. He later led the <a href="/company/geely">Geely</a> Boyue project, a model that helped solidify Geely’s position in the mainstream SUV market.
After stepping away from frontline vehicle programs in 2021 and joining Shunwei Capital, Hu broadened his perspective on global automotive technology through an investment lens.
Public information shows that Hu joined Shunwei Capital as an investment partner in 2021, while also participating in Xiaomi’s early automotive efforts as an adviser. He also appeared at the SU7 launch event, Auto China 2024, and the SU7 Ultra’s Nürburgring challenge.
Lei Jun did not immediately bring a veteran full-vehicle expert who had led multiple mass-market programs into the core management team.
This appointment reflects a milestone after nearly five years of organizational integration, with Hu, already trusted by the team, formally becoming a core executive and the chief technology leader of Xiaomi’s automotive business.
Song Gang’s career also spans two phases of China’s automotive sector.
Before joining Tesla, he built extensive experience in manufacturing and supply chain management at leading global automotive companies. Starting in 1999, he held long-term roles at SAIC General Motors and Ford, making him part of the generation of locally trained managers that emerged during the peak of China’s joint venture automotive era.
In 2018, Song joined Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory. Construction began in January 2019, and the plant achieved volume production and delivery of the Model 3 within the same year.
Song later served as senior director of manufacturing, vice president of manufacturing, and plant manager in Shanghai. He also worked in the US on factory construction and business planning, and later led the establishment of Tesla’s Megafactory in Shanghai for energy storage. In 2024, he joined Envision Energy as senior vice president of integrated supply chain, extending his experience into the broader new energy sector.
Beyond Hu and Song, Xiaomi’s automotive leadership team includes both long-serving Xiaomi executives and experienced automotive specialists.
The former includes Ye Hangjun, general manager of the autonomous driving division, who joined Xiaomi in 2012 and has served as general manager of the <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> department and chairman of the technology committee, among other roles.
The latter group spans key departments, including Chen Guang, head of end-to-end smart driving technology; Chen Long, head of the cognitive foundation model team; Wang Naiyan, head of the L3 project; and Li Tianyuan, general manager of industrial design and chief designer of Xiaomi’s automotive business.
Xiaomi’s talent strategy has also expanded globally. Since last year, it has established an automotive R&amp;D center in Munich, Germany, which the company has confirmed. According to an earlier 36Kr report, the center is led by Rudolf Dittrich, who spent 15 years at BMW, served as head of BMW’s limited-run vehicle division, and has engineering management experience with the Williams and Sauber Formula One teams.
Among the team members, Jannis Hellwig previously led performance management and simulation for BMW’s Formula E program; Ricard Aiguabella Macau was an aerodynamics specialist for Ferrari’s Formula One team; and Dusan Sarac has an R&amp;D background at BMW and Rolls-Royce. Public information also shows that Jean, the interior designer behind the Mercedes-Benz Vision GT, recently became head of Xiaomi’s Munich design studio.
This level of talent density is rare, even globally. Viewed more broadly, Xiaomi’s latest organizational upgrade may point to the next challenge facing China’s automotive sector.
Over the past two decades, China’s automotive sector has achieved two major transitions: from contract manufacturing to independent development, and from internal combustion engines to electrification. The next phase is whether Chinese automakers can build globally competitive <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicles</a> on the foundation of a mature domestic market.
That depends on companies developing not only strong products but also industrial-grade systems required for global competition, spanning technology, manufacturing, organizational capability, and talent depth.
For consumers, these organizational and system upgrades are expected to translate into better vehicles, more reliable delivery, and stronger long-term support. For the sector, however, Xiaomi’s second chapter in automotives appears to have just begun.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3770688595214857">article</a> was written by Xu Caiyu for 36Kr.

Xiaomi boosts EV business with new hires, including first CTO appointment

Transportation

Electric Vehicles

Mobility

… investment</h3>
<a href="/company/tencent">Tencent</a> has made its first investment in Kazakhstan’s fintech sector by acquiring a 3.2% stake in Kaspi.kz, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-20/china-s-tencent-invests-in-kazakhstan-fintech-company-kaspi-kz">Bloomberg</a>. The transaction values the purchased stake at about USD 518 million based on prior market prices.
The Chinese tech giant, together with Kaspi.kz management and long-term investors, bought six million American depositary receipts from Baring Fintech Venture Funds. Morgan Stanley advised on the transaction. Kaspi.kz said other buyers included Spice Expeditions and US university endowments such as Washington University and the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
Kaspi.kz operates widely used financial applications in Kazakhstan covering payments, e-commerce, and banking services. The deal gives Tencent exposure to an established fintech platform in Central Asia and aligns with its broader interest in super app models beyond China.
<h3>Recent deals completed in China:</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Lawnix, a sub-brand of Mova, has raised an eight-figure RMB sum from Skyworks, Kington Capital, and a Yibin state-backed technology fund. It develops products including lawn mowers, grass trimmers, hedge trimmers, and chainsaws, alongside battery packs, chargers, and other electric accessories built on multiple voltage platforms. It will use the funds for product iteration, team expansion, and overseas market expansion and localization. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3774707915440897">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Lingji Tianci, a consumer hardware startup focused on companionship products for children, has completed two eight-figure RMB rounds over the past year. Its angel round was led by Delian Capital, with participation from Dino Fund and Ruisheng Fund, while its pre-Series A round was led by Implic Capital. Under its Jollybubu brand, it has developed a system that integrates plush toys to make companions more tangible for children. It is expected to use the capital for continued product development and commercialization. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3774692365206280">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://x2robot.com/en">X Square Robot</a>, a Chinese robotics company, has completed a <a href="https://rwegrgdf5.eu.org/xiaomi-hongshan-back-x-square-robot-in-series-b-round">Series B round</a> worth nearly RMB 2 billion (USD 292.8 million). The round was jointly led by <a href="/company/xiaomi">Xiaomi</a> and HongShan. Additional investor details were not disclosed. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3774502008963841">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">K2 Lab, an enterprise AI startup founded by former DingTalk executives, has raised an eight-figure RMB sum in an angel round led by TH Capital, with participation from Seas Capital. It will use the proceeds for model R&amp;D, team expansion, and market growth. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3768320373441281">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.cumen.fun/">Cumen</a>, an offline interest-based community platform, has secured an undisclosed sum from a Hong Kong family fund focused on consumer and lifestyle investments. It organizes in-person activities and is building a community around how people socialize and spend time together offline. It will use the capital to expand brand awareness, deepen its pool of organizers, and accelerate ecosystem and product development. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3766710136570368">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.link-touch.com/">Link-Touch</a>, a developer of force sensors for robots, has completed a <a href="https://rwegrgdf5.eu.org/link-touch-draws-backing-from-catl-agibot-as-force-sensors-gain-traction">Series C+ round</a> worth more than RMB 100 million (USD 14.6 million). The round drew joint investment from Puquan Capital, <a href="/company/agibot">Agibot</a>, Galbot, OPT Machine Vision, Galaxy Yuanhui Investment, and other backers. It develops force sensors for humanoid robots, general-purpose force sensors, integrated force control systems, and hybrid robotic workstations, built on technologies spanning elastomer design, embedded hardware, structural decoupling algorithms, and six-axis synchronous calibration. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3766434507440903">36Kr</a></li>
</ul>
whereRelatedArticle
<h3>Muun, Injewelme, NeuBird, and others made recent headlines:</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Muun AI, a Singapore-based startup, raised USD 700,000 in a pre-seed round from Wavemaker Impact.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Injewelme, an AI-driven health tech solutions provider, raised USD 1.2 million in a round led by Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health, a catalytic vehicle of Temasek Trust. The Richardson family office also participated.</li>
<li aria-level="1">NeuBird AI, an agentic AI startup, raised USD 19.3 million in an oversubscribed round led by Xora Innovation, with participation from Mayfield, StepStone Group, Prosperity7 Ventures, and M12.</li>
</ul>
If there are any news or updates you'd like us to feature, get in touch with us at: <a href="mailto:hello@rwegrgdf5.eu.org">hello@rwegrgdf5.eu.org</a>.

Deals in brief: Baskit raises USD 4.4 million, Tencent buys Kaspi.kz stake, six China investments, and more

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Qiming Venture Partners has recorded its fifth IPO within its portfolio since the start of the year, after Alamar Biosciences officially began trading on Nasdaq on April 17.
Founded in 2018, Alamar was established by a team led by scientist and inventor Yuling Luo. The company specializes in femtogram-level, fully automated proteomics platforms, focusing on the development and commercialization of proteomics technologies and aiming to set a high standard in protein detection and analysis.
Alamar’s proprietary Nulisa technology addresses the design limitations of existing proteomics tools. With ultrahigh sensitivity, high specificity, flexible multiplex protein detection capabilities, a wide dynamic range, and a fully automated workflow, it is designed to detect protein biomarkers at extremely low concentrations, targeting a gap not previously addressed by other protein detection methods.
At the same time, Alamar’s proprietary Argo HT is a fully automated, high-throughput instrument that enables a “sample in, results out” workflow, supporting faster market adoption. By the end of 2025, cumulative installations of Argo HT instruments had exceeded 100 units, and the company reported more than 300 customers across 25 countries. Since the commercialization of its platform, more than 100 scientific papers based on its technologies and products have been published.
Notably, Alamar’s patented Nulisa technology, combined with its Argo HT instrument, forms a protein detection solution designed to deliver both sensitivity and breadth. On a single platform, it supports both high-throughput proteomics and targeted protein biomarker detection. With femtogram-level sensitivity, the ability to run hundreds of measurements in parallel, a 12-log dynamic range, a fully automated workflow, and consistent specificity, it is positioned as a platform capable of supporting the full life cycle of protein biomarkers, from discovery and validation to translation.
Since its founding, Alamar has received backing from several notable investors. Qiming led its Series A funding round in 2020 and continued to support the company through its Series B and Series C rounds. Before the IPO, Qiming held an approximately 19.2% stake in Alamar, making it one of the company’s key backers.
This <a href="https://xueqiu.com/2854806290/384683534">article</a> was adapted based on a feature originally written by and published on IPO Zaozhidao. KrASIA is authorized to translate, adapt, and publish its contents.

Alamar lists on Nasdaq, giving Qiming its fifth IPO in 2026

Deep Tech

Biotechnology

X Square Robot has completed a Series B funding round, raising nearly RMB 2 billion (USD 292.8 million), 36Kr reported. <a href="/company/xiaomi">Xiaomi</a> and HongShan co-led the investment.
The latest round builds on earlier financings secured by the <a href="/industry/robotics">robotics</a> firm, which has attracted backing from major companies such as <a href="/company/meituan">Meituan</a>, <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a>, and <a href="/company/bytedance">ByteDance</a>. With Xiaomi’s participation, X Square Robot is now the only Chinese company in the embodied intelligence sector to have secured investment from all four.
Xiaomi is not new to embodied intelligence. Over the past two years, its disclosed investments have included ViTai Robotics, which focuses on tactile sensing; Xynova, which develops dexterous hands; RoboParty, which builds robot bodies; and SynapX, which focuses on models.
Beyond external investments, Xiaomi’s own robotics products are also advancing. This month, its CyberOne robot entered Xiaomi’s automotive factory for a live production trial aimed at validating flexible assembly in manufacturing.
On the model side, Xiaomi open-sourced its vision-language-action model, Xiaomi-Robotics-0, in February.
A source told 36Kr that X Square Robot is among the few companies in China that remain committed to building embodied intelligence foundation models fully in-house, and it has consistently adhered to an end-to-end approach.
More specifically, in its self-developed WALL-A model, X Square Robot maps visual, language, tactile, and action signals into a continuous sequence of high-dimensional tokens. These unified representations are then fed into a single transformer architecture, enabling multimodal inputs and synchronized outputs within one system.
Wang Hao, co-founder and CTO of X Square Robot, said in an interview with 36Kr late last year that this type of natively multimodal unified representation helps reduce information loss when data moves across modalities. It enables robots to perceive the physical world more directly while ensuring that perception, decision-making, and execution remain synchronized in dynamic environments.
“The problem with the fine-tuning route is that once upstream models are no longer open-source, or once foundation model capabilities make a leap forward, all fine-tuning work could be overturned,” Wang said. “That makes it difficult to build a closed data loop and achieve scale effects.”
By contrast, an end-to-end unified architecture lays the groundwork for scaling embodied foundation models. In the future, as parameter counts and high-quality interaction data increase, model generalization, particularly zero-shot generalization, is expected to improve further.
Beyond its foundational technology stack, X Square Robot has also accelerated commercialization this year.
Last month, it partnered with 58 Daojia to launch a commercial home cleaning service that deploys robots in households, bringing embodied intelligence into real-world home settings at scale. The service, believed to be the first of its kind, is expected to roll out across multiple cities in the near term.
With data support from 58 Daojia, iterations of X Square Robot’s foundation model are expected to gain access to diverse, real-world datasets, creating a data flywheel in which deployment itself becomes part of the training process.
36Kr understands that beyond home service scenarios, X Square Robot also plans to expand into industrial manufacturing, logistics, and elder care, pushing embodied intelligence into broader real-world applications.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3774502008963841">article</a> was written by Qiu Xiaofen for 36Kr.

Xiaomi, HongShan back X Square Robot in Series B round

Robotics

Embodied Intelligence

<a href="/company/tencent">Tencent</a> has launched an international beta for QClaw, an <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> product developed by its PC Manager team, which builds the company’s desktop utility software used by hundreds of millions of users in China.
QClaw is positioned for non-technical users. Tencent said the product allows users to deploy and operate AI agents through email and messaging applications such as WhatsApp or Telegram without requiring terminal commands, API configuration, or other setup steps.
The company described QClaw as part of a broader push into AI agents and its first consumer-grade agent built on the <a href="https://rwegrgdf5.eu.org/what-is-openclaw-8-things-to-know-as-the-ai-agent-draws-hype-confusion-and-caution">OpenClaw</a> framework.
Tencent said the international version was developed in five days and that 99% of its code was generated autonomously by QClaw itself.
Peter Steinberger, founder of OpenClaw and currently at OpenAI, endorsed the launch in a repost on X. According to Tencent’s release, Steinberger said the company had worked with the OpenClaw project on evaluations to improve harness performance, as well as fixes and updates to the open-source repository.
whereRelatedArticle
QClaw is built on the OpenClaw open-source framework, which Tencent said it adapted with a consumer-facing layer to reduce deployment barriers. The product supports multiple large language models and allows custom model integration through API keys.
Tencent said QClaw includes long-term memory features and a security module called Gateway, which it described as monitoring AI agent activity in real time to detect malicious instructions and related risks. According to the company, agent operations and local file processing take place on the user’s device, while inference calls are routed through selected model providers.
The beta is currently free and includes 20,000 early access slots for initial users. Tencent also said the Chinese version, launched in March, reached more than one million users within its first ten days.

Tencent opens international beta for AI agent product QClaw

Artificial Intelligence

… has built a diversified pipeline spanning multiple therapeutic areas, target organs, and drug modalities, supporting the scalability of its AI nanomaterials platform.
Its three leading clinical-stage assets are MTS-004, MTS-201, and MTS-105. All target disease areas with unmet clinical needs and commercial potential and reflect the application of the company’s nanodelivery capabilities:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">MTS-004 is an oral therapeutic candidate for pseudobulbar effect. As no approved treatment currently exists in China, it may benefit from a first-mover position. It was outlicensed in September 2025, and the company expects its remaining assets to reach commercialization between the first quarter of 2027 and the fourth quarter of 2028. In this program, Metis used AiTEM to reduce preclinical formulation development time from one to two years to less than three months.</li>
<li aria-level="1">MTS-105 is an mRNA therapeutic candidate targeting liver cancer and other advanced solid tumors with liver metastases. Built on the AiRNA and AiLNP platforms, it encodes a T-cell engager and uses an optimized lipid nanoparticle delivery system to target the liver and sustain in vivo expression. It is currently in the investigator-initiated trial stage and has received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.</li>
<li aria-level="1">MTS-201 is an orally administered TGR5 agonist with low systemic exposure and localized activity. It stimulates enteroendocrine cells to release GLP-1, GLP-2, and peptide YY. It is being explored across metabolic and inflammatory conditions, including MASH, diabetes, obesity, and colitis, and is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials.</li>
</ul>
Beyond therapeutics, Metis is exploring applications of its platform in other areas, including animal health. It is developing assets such as PTS-101 for pet obesity and PTS-201 for muscle-targeting therapies aimed at improving longevity and mobility in animals. In August 2025, it signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese pet health supply chain provider to develop AI-enabled animal health products.
On commercialization, Metis follows a dual model of platform partnerships and product licensing. It reports more than 30 pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners globally, including large pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and research institutions.
Under platform partnerships, Metis provides AI-driven formulation and delivery solutions, generating revenue from research fees, option fees, and potential licensing fees.
Under product collaborations, it develops its own assets and may license them to partners in exchange for upfront payments, milestones, and royalties.
In December 2024, Metis signed an R&amp;D collaboration agreement with a global pharmaceutical company, later amended in March 2025, to evaluate its lipid library for organ-specific delivery. The partner paid a nonrefundable USD 2 million for certain negotiation rights. In March this year, Metis signed another agreement with the same company to conduct joint research on liposome discovery. Both agreements have two-year terms.
In July 2025, Metis also signed a research collaboration agreement with a US-listed biopharmaceutical company with a market capitalization exceeding USD 4 billion, covering mRNA and lipid nanoparticle technologies.
Since July 2025, it has signed five additional research collaboration agreements with new partners, with contract values ranging from approximately USD 45 million to USD 109 million per target.
Under its licensing model, Metis signed an agreement in September 2025 for MTS-004 in mainland China. By early December 2025, it had received an upfront payment of RMB 100 million (USD 14.6 million). Total milestone payments for the indication could reach RMB 1.845 billion (USD 270.1 million), with additional payments tied to potential indication expansion.
Metis said these combined approaches generate both short-term revenue and long-term value through licensing.
According to its prospectus, proceeds from the IPO will be used primarily to fund R&amp;D and advancement of its AI infrastructure and nanomaterials platform, support clinical trials, expand into new application areas, build a global ecosystem, and cover working capital and general corporate purposes.
This <a href="https://xueqiu.com/2854806290/384629670">article</a> was adapted based on a feature originally written by Stone Jin and published on IPO Zaozhidao. KrASIA is authorized to translate, adapt, and publish its contents.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.83 = USD 1 based on estimates as of April 21, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Metis TechBio clears key listing hurdle with AI nanodelivery focus

… that as well. Many similar products do not have high repurchase rates or strong user activity. More often, courts or venues buy them as experiential attractions.
That is why, in our multi-sport product matrix, every time we enter a new sports category, the first product still starts from the professional training scenario. We prioritize professional athletes and serious enthusiasts, using stable and reliable performance and quantifiable training results to build recognition and trust among core users.
One defining feature of the sports industry is that no single product can serve the entire market. User demand is highly fragmented. If your first product does not establish that position in users’ minds, it will quickly be replaced.
No matter what market you target, or what age group the users belong to, the core demand in sports remains professionalism and reliability. When consumers buy a tennis racket today, for example, they are more inclined to choose one associated with Roger Federer, because it represents authority. That has less to do with the signature itself than with the fact that professional positioning gives users a sense of identification and trust.
<h3>36Kr: How does that translate into product and pricing strategy?</h3>
ZH: In table tennis, for example, our product line extended downward from the high end. We first made equipment priced at RMB 100,000 (USD 14,646.6) and above to establish the label. Then we gradually introduced midrange models priced above RMB 6,000, (USD 878.8) followed by mass-market versions priced above RMB 1,000 (USD 146.5). The price points continued to move downward.
Tennis ball launching robots follow the same path. We define the positioning and boundaries of every product very clearly, so users at different price points can all get an experience that is both suitable and professional.
Professional athletes willing to choose equipment priced at RMB 100,000 care most about movement fidelity and training realism. Serious enthusiasts buying products in the RMB 5,000 (USD 732.3) range care more about spin, speed, and data analysis, hoping to use the equipment to keep improving. Models priced at around RMB 2,000 (USD 292.9) can satisfy beginners’ practice needs while also fitting family leisure and parent-child use.
<h3>36Kr: Looking at the broader market, is it developing at the speed you imagined when you started the company?</h3>
ZH: I think it has been slower than expected, but I am still satisfied. In the past, the penetration rate of ball launching machines among professionals and enthusiasts was below 10%, because traditional products offered a poor experience. The technology was outdated, the functions were limited, and little had changed for decades. Now, with digitalization and AI, along with China’s mature supply chain capabilities, the room for growth has opened up.
<h3>36Kr: A large number of startups are entering intelligent sports hardware. How do you view this wave?</h3>
ZH: In the past, very few people started businesses in sports. There is no reason sports should not become one of the industries with the highest density of technology. I think that trend is already happening, and it has become much more visible over the past two years.
The technological density of an industry is, in essence, the density of technical talent. That is an important indicator. Sports deserves more attention, especially from the tech sector. Only then can R&amp;D generate new solutions and better products for users, forming a positive cycle.
More companies are emerging, and that is a good thing. They are helping drive incremental growth and expand the market. That is the first milestone we have been waiting for.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3764953900990977">article</a> was written by Huang Nan for 36Kr.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.83 = USD 1 based on estimates as of April 20, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

Pongbot uses AI-powered robots to address sports coaching gap

Chinese smartphone maker <a href="/company/oppo">Oppo</a> is introducing its new foldable phone to Japan for the first time, the company said on April 14, as part of an effort to break into a market led by Apple's iPhone.
The Oppo Find N6 has a suggested retail price of JPY 318,000 (USD 1,999.1) for the 512-gigabyte model, making it Oppo's most expensive phone yet.
The price is higher than that of rival Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Fold7, which sells for JPY 295,750 (USD 1,859.3) for the same storage capacity.
The Oppo device features a proprietary hinge that keeps the height of the display crease when the phone is unfolded to just 0.05 millimeters.
Foldable smartphones sales in Japan totaled 225,000 units in fiscal 2023, less than 1% of the overall smartphone market, according to MM Research Institute. Apple is working on a foldable iPhone but <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/supply-chain/foldable-iphone-hits-engineering-snags-shipment-delays-possible-sources" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has hit setbacks</a>.
Chinese brands have struggled to gain a foothold in Japan's smartphone market, where Apple holds a share of over 50%. Worldwide, Xiaomi ranked third with a 13.1% market share last year, and Oppo came in fifth with 8.1%, according to US-based IDC. Neither company ranks among the top five in Japan.
Apple has locked in users with its iOS operating system, making them less likely to buy phones from other makers. Despite these challenges, Oppo entered the Japanese market in December 2024 with its first premium model in about three years, the Oppo Find X8.
The brand has found some success. The Oppo Find X9, launched in December last year at JPY 149,800 (USD 941.7), had by February sold four times as many units as the X8.
"This is a single device that packs everything Oppo has learned over eight years of foldable smartphone research," Oppo Japan's Kenzo Kono said about the new N6.
Foldable phones have been only a small segment of the Japanese market, but perceptions are changing, industry watchers say. Foldables' large displays open new possibilities for applications.
"More consumers are now coming in specifically asking for foldable phones," a representative of electronics retailer Bic Camera said. "They are increasingly being chosen by businesspeople for professional use."
<figure id="attachment_161311" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-161311" style="width: 1920px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-161311" src="https://console.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Oppo-Find-N6.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://console.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Oppo-Find-N6.jpg 1920w, https://console.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Oppo-Find-N6-720x405.jpg 720w, https://console.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Oppo-Find-N6-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://console.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Oppo-Find-N6-768x432.jpg 768w, https://console.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Oppo-Find-N6-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://console.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Oppo-Find-N6-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-161311" class="wp-caption-text">Image source: Oppo.</figcaption></figure>
With horizontally folding phones, such as Oppo's N6 and Samsung's Fold7, there are limited benefits to viewing videos because large margins remain at the top and bottom of the screen. But there is significant potential for business use, such as working with document files or running multiple chat and productivity apps simultaneously.
The nearly crease-free flat open display also works well with a stylus, enabling users to write directly on documents.
In South Korea, a stronghold for Samsung, large screen phones are becoming popular with businesspeople in their 40s and 50s who are beginning to experience declining eyesight. Although foldable devices are expensive, there is also likely demand to be found among middle-aged and older users in Japan.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/china-s-oppo-takes-on-iphone-in-japan-with-2-000-foldable-phone">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.rwegrgdf5.eu.org/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.
Note: JPY figures are converted to USD at rates of JPY 159.07 = USD 1 based on estimates as of April 20, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.

China's Oppo takes on iPhone in Japan with USD 2,000 foldable phone

Oppo

Smartphones

Japan