Who Can Be The Last To Laugh At "Three Electrics And One Beast"

"It takes two hours to use the power bank, but the charge is as high as 10 yuan." recently, an apple mobile phone user complained to the reporter of the 21st century economic report that the charging of the shared power bank is too expensive.

On March 22, another financial practitioner interviewed said that he had to pay 99 yuan to buy a shared power bank of a certain brand because he had no time to return the power bank to the railway station on a business trip.

After several rounds of reshuffle, the domestic shared power bank market has basically evolved into a dominant situation of "three electricity and one beast" (street electricity, incoming calls, small electricity and monsters). According to the report on the development of China's shared charging industry in 2019 released by trustdata, the four "three electrics and one beast" share 96.3% of the market share of the shared rechargeable battery. Among them, street power ranked first with 28.6% of the market share, followed by small power and monster with 27% and 25.1% respectively, and the call ranked fourth with 15.6% market share. In addition, meituan, fast green charging and other brands are also emerging.

Under the background of intensified industry competition, the charging price of shared power bank has become more and more "expensive".

Under the background of relatively low access threshold and single profit model: all the brands of shared power bank are competing for the offline business location, and the capital surge is behind it.

Each company has 200 million users

Just in the middle of March, monster charging submitted its offering document to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list on NASDAQ. The disclosure of the prospectus also re focused the shared power bank industry.

According to the latest media reports, monster charging plans to list on NASDAQ on April 2 with the stock code of "EM", and the actual IPO amount may reach $500 million. Monster charging did not comment on this.

Founded in May 2017, monster charging (the main body is Zhixiang Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.), the founding team is from Alibaba, Baidu and other companies. The founder Cai Guangyuan was once the general manager and national marketing director of Uber Shanghai.

According to the prospectus, from 2019 to 2020, the operating revenue of monster charging will be 2.022 billion yuan and 2.809 billion yuan respectively, and the net profit will be 167 million yuan and 75.4 million yuan respectively.

From the perspective of revenue structure, the revenue of power bank is the core revenue of monster charging. In 2020, its revenue from mobile device charging business is 2.715 billion yuan, accounting for 96.5% of the total revenue. In addition, a small part of the revenue comes from power bank sales.

Industry insiders pointed out that the operation of the shared power bank, the number of POI (number of merchant points) and the number of available power banks are two key indicators to measure its business expansion and coverage.

According to the prospectus, as of the end of December 2020, monster charging has more than 664000 POI sharing charging networks and more than 5 million mobile power supplies in more than 1500 regions in China, covering entertainment places, restaurants, shopping centers, hotels, transportation hubs and other public places. Among them, about 57.6% of the interest points of monster charging are located in the first and second tier cities, and about 42.4% of them are located in the third tier cities and below.

In addition, as of 2019 and 2020, the cumulative registered users of monster charging are about 149.1 million and 219.4 million respectively.

It is worth mentioning that Hangzhou Small Power Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "small power technology") is also sprinting to the capital market in a small run. It has signed a listing guidance agreement with Zheshang securities at the end of June 2020 and plans to rush to the gem.

The latest news: on January 20, 2021, Zheshang securities disclosed the progress report on the third phase listing guidance of small power technology.

From the perspective of market share, the official website disclosed that the small power technology established in December 2016 has covered more than 1600 key cities above county level in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, with a total registered users of more than 200 million. In addition, in the third quarter of 2019, the revenue of small power technology increased by 300% year-on-year, and the peak daily order volume exceeded 2 million.

From the perspective of South China, Shenzhen Jiedian Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jiedian") was established in November 2015. According to the official website, the company's accumulated users exceeded 200 million in December 2019. By November 2020, the fifth anniversary of street power's establishment, it announced that it had accumulated nearly 300 million users. Previously, in December 2018, Jiedian said that the daily order peak reached 1.2 million.

Coincidentally, Shenzhen Diandian Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Diandian technology") founded a team in December 2013. In April 2015, it launched equipment from Futian, Shenzhen, and officially entered the market. In April 2016, it called into Beijing, Wuhan, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Chengdu and other first and second tier cities.

Although the revenue data has not been disclosed, the company disclosed on its official website that it has achieved breakeven in October 2017, becoming the first enterprise sharing power bank to break even after the industry has been capitalized and scaled up. In October 2020, the company registered more than 200 million users.

It is worth mentioning that on January 26, the company issued a notice, "for the consideration of the company's strategic level", the company decided that "the follow-up business will be transferred from Shenzhen Diandian Technology Co., Ltd. to Pujiang dianzhengqi Technology Co., Ltd., including the business contract signing entity and the fund receiving / paying subject, etc., which will be changed from Shenzhen to Pujiang". Pujiang call is a company established in Pujiang, Zhejiang Province on December 2, 2020.

In this regard, on March 23, the reporter of 21st century economic report called science and technology to understand the change of business entities, but as of the time of publication, no reply was received.

In 2020, the Internet giant meituan restarted the shared power bank business that had been shelved several times in 2017. "Since May 2020, it has launched coverage in more than 200 prefecture level cities across the country, with about 70000 merchants per month. Now, the number of users per month has increased four or five times.". Wei Changsong, head of meituan power bank business, said in an interview in early December 2020.

Capital exploding into the board, accelerating industry reshuffle

As early as the end of 2017, Yuanyuan, former CEO of Jiedian technology, mentioned in an interview with the media that "due to the formation of Matthew effect, capital is more concentrated in the head, which will accelerate the reshuffle. Because the two most important things to make a power bank, the first is to have financial support to rapidly expand the scale, and the second is that the product experience should be good enough. If not, those who should be eliminated will be eliminated. "

Whether it is monsters, small power, street electricity or electricity, they are all rapidly expanding under the pursuit of the real gold and silver of the capital, and the capital explosion into the game, leading to the head players secretly accumulating strength and gradually opening the gap with the second and third tier enterprises.

As monster charging submitted its prospectus, its financing was exposed.

Since its establishment in May 2017, monster charging has completed five rounds of financing, with a total amount of more than 1 billion yuan. Investors include Xiaomi group, Hillhead capital, Shunwei capital, Qingliu capital, Yunjiu capital, Guangfa Securities and other well-known investment institutions.

In fact, just before the submission of the prospectus, monster charging has just completed a round of financing of more than $200 million, led by Alibaba and CMC, followed by Carlyle (CGI), Hillhead and Softbank Asia.

Among the institutional shareholders of monster charging, Taobao China Holding Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba, holds about 16.5%; in addition, hillhood, Shunwei, Softbank Asia, Xiaomi, xintianyu, Yunjiu and CMC hold 11.7%, 8.8%, 7.7%, 7.5%, 5.8% and 5.4% respectively.

In July 2020, small power technology, which was listed in the list of Hangzhou Unicorn enterprises, won Angel round financing from Jinshajiang venture capital and Wang Gang, a well-known individual investor, in March 2017, just three months after its establishment (December 2016).

According to the public information, in March 2017, small power technology obtained tens of millions of Yuan Angel round financing, which was led by Jinshajiang venture capital and Wang Gang, and co invested by Detong capital, Zhaoyin international and Yingdong capital. Subsequently, it completed a round financing of nearly 100 million yuan in April 2017, LED by Tencent and Yuanjing capital, jointly invested by Dinghui and Daosheng, and the last round of investors were Wang Gang and Jinsha Jiang, Detong capital and Yingdong capital have invested with each other.

At that time, Chen Hongliang, partner of Yuanjing capital, the investor of the round, believed that opportunities for offline traffic value revaluation were being explored, and rigid demands such as smart device charging were arousing new offline scenarios. "Smart power bank represented by small power has the characteristics of clear use demand, low education cost, strong user purpose and short service chain, which can be continuously and accurately absorbed Introduce more offline traffic, and form a high-frequency trading entrance through offline traffic to support the imagination of the future. "

In May 2017, small power technology completed the B round financing of 350 million yuan, with Sequoia China and Gaorong leading the investment.

By 2018, small power technology has completed the B + round of hundreds of millions of RMB financing. After this round of financing plus round B financing, the valuation of small power technology is more than 300 million US dollars.

In April 2020, Suning finance took a stake in small power technology without disclosing the specific amount.

According to the publicity materials for the guidance and filing, the shareholder lineup of small power technology is huge: "Tencent" linzhili new information technology Co., Ltd. holds 9.6591%; Beijing Hongshan Chenxin Management Consulting Center (limited partnership) of "Sequoia Department" holds 5.9943%; Tibet Rongan Growth Investment Center (limited partnership) of Gaorong capital holds 4.9716%. In addition, Suning e-buy (002024) holds shares SZ) and Suning finance held 1.4205% and 1.4205% respectively.

In the rapid expansion of street electricity, telephone calls and fast green, there is no lack of capital boost.

According to the official website, in March 2017, Jiedian obtained a round of financing within two years after its establishment, led by IDG capital and Xinwangda, and followed by Lianxin capital; in May 2017, Jiedian ushered in the highlight moment, and obtained 300 million yuan of strategic financing from Jumei Youpin, and Chen Ou's share in Jiedian was also highly anticipated by the market.

In January 2021, the industrial and commercial information of Jiedian changed, and the new investor was Ganfeng lithium industry (002460. SZ), a listed company of A-share and Hong Kong stock, with a capital contribution of 3.772 million yuan and a shareholding ratio of 12%.

In contrast, the financing information of call technology is relatively small: according to the official website, in April 2017, call technology obtained a round of financing of US $20 million, led by SIG and red point China, Jiuhe venture capital and the chairman of Scud.

Known as the "black horse" of the industry, fast green charging (mainly Hainan palmtop energy Media Co., Ltd.), announced the completion of more than 100 million yuan of pre-A round financing on December 30, 2020, nine months after its establishment, with Yuanjing venture capital leading the investment.

Industry confusion after the battle

"In fact, the business logic of sharing power bank is relatively simple, that is, strive to quickly open channels, cultivate users' habits, and then form a charging mode." On March 23, a former primary market person told the 21st century economic reporter.

Previously, the reporter also learned from insiders that "the heavy users of the shared power bank mainly come from KTV, Internet bar and other entertainment places. The users in these places spend a long time using the power bank, and if the return time is exceeded, the users who use sesame credit and wechat credit free of deposit will probably deduct a deposit of 99 yuan.".

Such a crude and simple way of making profits has also led to more complaints about the shared power bank, most of which point to "arbitrary charging", "arbitrary deduction", "no handling" and "poor attitude".

For example, the operation mode of monster charging is direct marketing mode and cooperation mode. The former is directly managed by monster charging, while the latter is managed by partners.

Under the direct marketing mode, monster charging will pay the partner admission fee in advance, and pay the partner Commission according to the proportion. The entrance fee and commission account for about 50% - 70% of the equipment revenue. Under the cooperation mode, monster charging pays a monthly commission to its partners, which generally accounts for 75% - 90% of the equipment revenue.

The 21st century economic reporter found that even for the same brand of power bank, there are differences in charges in different locations: the price ranges from 2 to 4 yuan / hour.

"Different merchants have different prices. In places with large traffic, the price of shared power bank will be higher. In this industry, the most important expenditure is admission fee and commission". Some media reports also pointed out that if a head sharing power bank enterprise cooperates with a national catering brand, the admission fee will reach tens of millions a year.

It can be seen that whether it's monster charging, small power, street power, or incoming calls, they will emphasize the cooperative businesses on the official website, and display different cabinet types to present the possibility of full consumption scenarios such as catering, hotels, leisure and entertainment, transportation, hospitals, and commercial complexes.

For example, in February 2021, small power technology and Marriott group reached a strategic cooperation, covering 101 Marriott hotels nationwide. It is reported that small power technology has become the first and only official partner of Marriott Hotel Group in sharing charging service.

Prior to this, small power technology also reached strategic cooperation with Yintai business group, and exclusively settled in Yintai's more than 50 shopping centers and department stores in Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Ningbo, Hefei and other cities, putting in nearly 400 cabinet machines. The two sides also reached in-depth cooperation on Yintai member services.

In addition, monster charging publicity, its products accumulated to participate in 120 + Music Festival, 30 + e-sports game events, 50 + major cultural and entertainment activities; street power stressed that the company has been the only shared power brand in the world Internet Conference for two consecutive years.

What is the new growth curve of the shared power bank industry in addition to the single profit model of constantly seizing sites and accumulating users?

Chuancai Securities pointed out the problems and challenges faced by the current shared power bank industry. "First, the cost is high. First, the shared power bank has high requirements for site location. Most of the sites are set up in large shopping centers, restaurants and entertainment places, as well as hospitals, railway stations and other places with large traffic and a residence period of more than 1 hour. Second, the setting of the shared power bank site needs to pay a certain admission fee to the merchants. At the same time, the revenue generated by the site should be shared with the merchants by about 50%, and the operating cost is rising. On the other hand, if the price of the shared power bank increases too much and the cost is too high, users will tend to bring their own power bank or reduce the lease time. Therefore, the company can not transfer the operating cost to the lease expense without limit, which will lead to difficulties in improving the profitability of enterprises and low net profit margin. "