“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, November 30 (Reporter Yu Jiaxin) “In terms of R&D investment, we will continue to focus on key modules such as vision, touch, motors, and execution units using the talents and technology we have accumulated in the early stages to provide core incremental components and solutions for the AI robot era, lower the technical and cost threshold for robot applications, and help the industry achieve intelligent and large-scale implementation faster.” At the 2024 third quarter performance exchange meeting, Qiu Chunchao, CEO of Suteng Juchuang, said.

In the first three quarters of this year, Sagiteng Juchuang's total revenue was about 1.13 billion yuan, an increase of 91.51% over the previous year, exceeding the revenue for the full year of 2023. The loss for the period was 0.351 billion yuan, a year-on-year narrowing of about 69.03%.

Looking at the third quarter, the company achieved revenue of 0.408 billion yuan, an increase of 54.7% year on year; of these, revenue from products used in ADAS was 0.33 billion yuan, an increase of 87.1% year on year. The loss for the period was $83.209 million, down 77% year over year.

In terms of gross margin, the consolidated gross margin for the third quarter of this year was 17.5%, of which gross margin for ADAS increased from -7.7% in the same period in 2023 to 14.1% in 2024. Qiu Chunchao said at the exchange meeting that overall gross margin is expected to improve further in the fourth quarter.

In terms of sales, in the first three quarters of this year, the company's sales volume of lidar products, lidar products for ADAS applications, and lidar products for robots and other lidar products was approximately 0.3819 million units, 0.3658 million units, and 0.0161 million units, respectively, up about 259.6%, 292.9%, and 22.9% year-on-year.

On the product side, in April of this year, the company released a new MX with a price of less than 200 US dollars. Qiu Chunchao, CEO of Suteng Juchuang, said that MX products have successfully obtained targeted cooperation from 7 automakers in the L2+ field. The new customers include a leading domestic autonomous car brand, one of Japan's top three automakers, a Sino-Japanese joint venture car company with leading sales volume, an OEM with a joint venture with one of the top three domestic car companies in the world, and a major Chinese and Japanese joint venture.

“Since the mass production of MX in affordable models is being introduced one after another, we expect the M1 Plus and M2 to continue to be the main shipment force next year. Looking at it now, the final increase in MX will account for about 30% or 40% of next year's shipments, depending on the specific sales situation of each customer model next year.” Qiu Chunchao said.

In terms of L4 level autonomous driving, Sagiteng Juchuang said it has obtained SOP fixed-point cooperation from L4+ autonomous driving companies such as the world's largest travel platform and Little Pony Zhixing.

“For the lidar industry, L4 level lidars are essential sensors. Generally, the average usage of a robotaxi (car) lidar is 3 to 5 times that of L2 models, and the performance requirements are higher. Therefore, its business model is different from front-end ADAS in the short term, that is, the pressure on gross profit is relatively small. Based on our current accumulation in the L4 autonomous driving field, we expect a significant increase in revenue in the robotaxi direction.”

In terms of overseas markets, Qiu Chunchao said that the company has successfully reached targeted cooperation with 4 overseas automakers. In addition to the North American NEV customer that reached the first automake-grade SOP delivery in 2021, and we received the number one global sales OEM customer from Japan in the first half of 2024, we added two new OEM customers in the third quarter of 2024, including one of the top three Japanese automakers and an international OEM project just mentioned.

“Based on our current cooperation with overseas car companies, 2026 is expected to be a turning point, that is, models for overseas customers will be mass-produced and delivered in 2026 and beyond. It is worth mentioning that the company's current cooperation with several overseas car companies is based on platform targeting, that is, every customer will target multiple models. Also, as car companies' platforms are upgraded, the models and scale of targeted delivery will continue to increase.” It mentioned.

In terms of R&D investment, in the third quarter of 2024, Sagiteng Juchuang's R&D expenditure was 0.152 billion yuan, an increase of 30.3% over the previous year. The number of R&D personnel increased from 559 to 635 in the same period in 2023. It specifically mentioned that the company has hired additional R&D personnel specializing in the development of AI algorithms and proprietary chips, and they enjoy better salary treatment.

In terms of results, in November of this year, Suteng Juchuang showcased the research results of 8 active degrees of freedom dexterous hands using self-developed 3D force sensor technology at the 26th Hi-Tech Fair. Qiu Chunchao revealed that the company plans to present the next generation of more groundbreaking multi-layer technology integration products in the near future.

Qiu Chunchao, CEO of Suteng Juchuang, said that the company is currently continuing to explore new market space in the fields of robots, drones, etc. “By the end of the third quarter, the Group had surpassed 2,600 partners in the robotics field from 2,400 to 2,600. Shipments in the robotics sector are expected to break through six digits next year.”