iFLYTEK's 2023 Net Profit Surges Over 17%, R&D Expenditure Nears CNY 4 Billion

Technology Author: EqualOcean News, Jiahui Liao Apr 23, 2024 06:27 PM (GMT+8)

iFLYTEK released its 2023 annual report.

iFLYTEK

On the evening of April 22, iFLYTEK(002230:HK) released its 2023 annual report. According to the financial report, iFLYTEK achieved an operating income of CNY 19.65 billion in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 4.41%. The net profit attributable to the parent company for the period was CNY 660 million, representing a 17.12% year-on-year increase. By the end of 2023, iFLYTEK's net cash flow from operating activities reached CNY 350 million.

Breaking down the business lines, according to the annual report, iFLYTEK's open platform and consumer business achieved an operating income of CNY 6.19 billion, a 33.4% year-on-year increase, accounting for 31.47% of the total revenue and becoming iFLYTEK's largest revenue-generating business segment. Revenue from smart cars, smart medical care, and smart finance were CNY 700 million, CNY 540 million, and CNY 290 million respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 52.2%, 14.9%, and 26.1%.

Amidst the general artificial intelligence trend, iFLYTEK continues to increase its R&D investment. The financial report shows that its R&D expenditure in 2023 reached CNY 3.84 billion, a 14.36% year-on-year increase, accounting for 19.53% of the revenue, an increase of 1.7 percentage points from 2022.

The financial report also disclosed the business situation of iFLYTEK's Xinghuo large model. As of the end of the reporting period, iFLYTEK's open platform had opened 647 AI capabilities and solutions, attracting over 5.78 million developer teams, a 52% year-on-year increase. Since the release of the Xinghuo large model, more than 1.676 million new developers have been added, a 229% year-on-year increase compared to the same period last year. Among them, the number of large model developers exceeds 350,000, attracting 27,000 assistant developers and developing 49,000 assistant applications.

Regarding future development plans, iFLYTEK stated in the financial report that in 2024, it will consolidate its foundation in regular business operations and take steps in regional businesses, C-end hardware, and channel expansion. Simultaneously, it will maintain strategic agility for new opportunities around the Xinghuo large model, such as code assistants, university businesses, smart hardware, smart large screens, and intelligent computing platforms, and saturate investment at critical moments.

Furthermore, iFLYTEK has expanded its overseas business layout to provide global users with higher quality artificial intelligence technology and solutions. In June last year, iFLYTEK held a product launch event in Singapore with its Xinghuo cognitive large model and C-end smart hardware. Southeast Asia has become the first stop and strategic center for iFLYTEK's overseas business. To this end, iFLYTEK has formulated a "1+4" strategy, consisting of one international station of the iFLYTEK open platform centered in Singapore and four strategic investments: localization investment, technological investment, product innovation investment, and partner program investment.

This includes the iFLYTEK AI marketing business. Currently, iFLYTEK's AI marketing's overseas business is mainly focused in countries such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, primarily involving the internet industry, including e-commerce, tools, games, and finance. In the future, iFLYTEK's AI marketing hopes to form a one-stop marketing solution including DSP and ADX to provide global users with a more comprehensive and efficient artificial intelligence technology and solution. By combining artificial intelligence technology with the needs of global users, iFLYTEK's AI marketing will be better positioned to meet the demands of global users, driving the global application and development of artificial intelligence technology.

As of the time of writing, iFLYTEK is priced at CNY 41.97 per share, with a total market value of CNY 971.76 billion.