Lexin Technology is a professional integrated circuit design enterprise, which adopts a fabless business model, mainly from the research, development, design and sales of communication chips and modules of the Internet of Things. The main products of Wi-Fi MCU are core communication chips in the fields of smart home, smart lighting, smart payment terminals, smart wearable devices, sensing devices and industrial control.
Lexin Technology said that in the field of Internet of Things Wi-Fi MCU chips, its company is the only mainland enterprise that belongs to the first echelon with Qualcomm and Dezhou Instruments.
With the application of smart home, smart lighting, smart payment terminals, smart wearable devices and industrial Internet of Things, the huge market scale and rapidly growing demand have driven the rapid development of the upstream Internet of Things chip industry.
Thanks to the rapid development of downstream industries and the continuous introduction of new products, the comprehensive gross profit margins of Lexin Technology from 2065,438+06 to 2065,438+08 were 565,438+0.45%, 50.865,438+0% and 50.66% respectively.
Lexin technology has always been favored by technology giants. According to media reports, at the intel capital Global Summit held on May 9, 201018, Intel announced that it would invest 72 million US dollars in 12 innovative companies, including three China enterprises such as Lexin Technology. According to the data in the prospectus, intel capital holds 6,543,800+0.92 million shares of the company, accounting for 3.20% of the total share capital before this issuance.
In addition, public data such as prospectus and Qixinbao show that Lexin Technology received 654.38 billion yuan in Series A financing on February 30, 2065.438+2006. The investors included Fosun Ruizheng Capital, Xiaomi Technology, Haier Capital and Safran Investment Fund, and listed companies such as Fosun Pharma and Qingdao Haier were involved behind it.
It is worth noting that Lexin Technology is closely related to Xiaomi. The cooperation between the two began on 20 15, and Lexin Technology provided ESP8266 Wi-Fi chip for Xiaomi's Internet of Things solution. Starting from 20 17, Xiaomi mainly used ESP32, the flagship chip of Lexin Technology, in the selection of Wi-Fi modules, and on1October 20 18+28, Xiaomi (20 17 MIDC) launched the Xiaomi development board based on ESP32. In 20 18, Xiaomi was the second largest customer of Lexin Technology, and the direct purchase amount from Lexin Technology was as high as 44,097,900 yuan.
Smart home "rider"
Lexin Technology has always emphasized that it is an excellent company in the field of Internet of Things in public materials such as prospectus. However, from the aspects of product structure and main customers, the company's current expertise is only concentrated in the field of "smart home" consumer-grade Internet of Things.
The company's customers are mainly graffiti intelligence, Xiaomi and other enterprises, which are the top two customers of the company in 20 18, while Xiaomi and graffiti intelligence are well-known smart home products enterprises in China.
In the reply to the inquiry letter, the company also revealed that the main terminal applications of the products sold by the company to graffiti intelligence are concentrated in smart lamps, smart plugs, smart home appliances, air purifiers and consumer electronics. Similarly, the products purchased by the top five customers such as Xiaomi are mainly used for smart home products.
Zhang, technical director of Xiaomi Internet of Things Division, also publicly stated: "Xiaomi products pursue the ultimate cost performance. Among all IoT solutions, Lexin series solutions have the same ultimate cost performance. "
It is worth noting that the growth rate of the smart home market on which Lexin Technology relies is slowing down. According to the report "Special Analysis of Smart Home Market 20 19" released by Analysys Consulting in March, 20 19, the growth rate of domestic smart home market has gradually declined from the high point of 30.6% since 20 16, and it is estimated that the growth rate of related industries will only be16 in 20 19.
The pressure to slow down the performance growth of Lexin Technology has already appeared. According to the draft prospectus, the company achieved operating income of 654.38+47 million yuan in the first quarter of 20 19, with a year-on-year increase of only 37.24%, which is far from the compound annual growth rate of 96.55% in the last three years. In the first quarter, the company realized a net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 28.3437 million yuan, with the year-on-year growth rate reduced to 1 1.60%.
Dislocation competition is more difficult.
The success of Lexin Technology largely benefits from the company's perfect "dislocation competition" strategy.
Wi-Fi MCU is the most important application, especially in the field of Internet of Things. The chip used in the product does not need a particularly powerful processor, only the MCU is equipped with WiFi function, and the technical threshold is limited.
The market space of Wi-Fi MCU is also limited. In 20 18, the company's operating income was 475 million yuan, accounting for about 30% of the total market share, so it is speculated that the whole market size is only about1580 thousand yuan. Because the market scale is too small, the Science and Technology Innovation Board Audit Center also asked the company to explain whether its products are excessively concentrated in market segments in the second round of inquiries.
In the reply to the second round of inquiry, Lexin Technology also clearly stated that the issuer did not enter the important Wi-Fi market such as PC and mobile phone, mainly because of the differences in the demand for Wi-Fi chips in various markets and the issuer's own strategic choice. The company said that the market concentration of traditional PC and mobile phone Wi-Fi chips has been high, and traditional chip designers have greater first-Mover advantage.
Therefore, since its establishment, the company has chosen Wi-Fi MCU communication chip as the research and development direction, and used the long tail characteristics of the Internet of Things market to conduct differentiated competition, gradually forming the issuer's competitive advantage in the field of Wi-Fi MCU in the Internet of Things.
However, there is increasing pressure for companies to maintain their advantages in the dislocation competition.
Sheng Wang believes that, relatively speaking, the overall design difficulty of Wi-Fi MCU chips is in the middle of the chip design industry. The competitors of the first echelon are internationally renowned chip design companies, with many product categories and scattered R&D projects. These enterprises have a mature R&D team, a large number of R&D personnel and rich experience in product development, so the technology accumulation speed is relatively fast.
"With the continuous growth of the Wi-Fi MCU market, the focus of manufacturers may gradually shift, industry competition will intensify, product iteration speed will be further accelerated, and the company will face the pressure of R&D and innovation. Companies need to accurately judge market trends, look forward to technology research and development reserves, and grasp key competitive nodes. " Sheng Wang said.
Smart speakers, smart rice cookers, smart scented lamps ... With the surge of capital from all parties, it seems that all home products can be intelligent under the indiscriminate bombing of marketing advertisements, and smart homes have become a "window" integrating big data, consumer electronics and the Internet of Things.
Many enterprises have seized this opportunity. Recently, Lexin Technology, headquartered in Shanghai, updated the prospectus of the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and the Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Board Committee will review the company's listing application on June 19. Lexin Technology's main business is the research and development, design and sales of Wi-Fi MCU communication chips and modules in the Internet of Things, and its main application scenarios are concentrated in the field of "smart home". From 20 16 to 20 18, the company's operating income was 654.38+23 million yuan, 272 million yuan and 475 million yuan respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 96.55%.