ECARX Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
November 9, 2023

There are 10 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Ecarex Quarter 3 2023 Earnings Conference Call. I would now like to hand the conference over to Renee Du, Head of Investor Relations of IcardX. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to our Q3 2023 earnings conference call. With me today are eCARx, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ziyu Shen Chief Operating Officer, Peter Serino and Chief Financial Officer, Phil Zhou. Following their prepared remarks, they will be able to answer your questions during the Q and A session that follows. Please note, today's call is being recorded.

Speaker 1

Before we start, I would like to refer you to our forward looking statements at the bottom of our earnings press release, which also applies to this call. Further information on specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in our filings with the SEC. In addition, This call will include discussions of certain non GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release, which contains a reconciliation of the non GAAP measure to GAAP measure. With that, I'd like to hand the call over to Ziyu.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Renee. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining our 3rd quarter earnings call. Let me start by Saying a few words about China market. This quarter saw again a growing share of NEVs SORT's VS ICE vehicles and the trend is clearly accelerating with global NEV adoption rate reached a record high at 19.8% in the Q3. This year, China is well positioned to become the largest automobile explorer in the world.

Speaker 2

This year is also likely to be the 1st year where domestic brands will outsell foreign brands in China. One of the important trends that we witnessed this quarter was the launch of car specific mobile phones, whose OS seamlessly Integrates into the vehicle's ecosystems to create a better user experience. With Meizu, we are pushing a similar integration strategy. At eCallX, we delivered another strong quarter of growth with revenue up 50% year on year as we continue to benefit From increased spending by OEMs on enhancing the in car experience and meeting consumer demand For greater connectivity and more, the best ticket is the digital cockpit technologies. There are now over 5,600,000 vehicles on the road that incorporates our technology across 24 brands offered by our 15 automotive OEM customers.

Speaker 2

Vehicles on the road equipped with our products increased 8% from last quarter and 31% from the same period last year. With our dedicated team of over 2,000 people, 70% of whom are engineers, we are firmly positioned as the leading tech provider in the industry. I'm pleased to report that we further expanded our customer base outside of JD Group in China During the quarter with Dongfeng, Peugeot's Secure Automobile, the joint venture between Dongfeng and Santelante, Coming onboard as a significant customer in August, we also added 6 design wins for flagship car models in the 3rd quarter, paving the way for further growth, which I will let Peter go over in more detail later. Internationally, Chinese EV makers and technology suppliers have truly arrived on the global stage following their massive Present at the IAA Mobility Model Show in Munich in September, we are investing Significant results into growing our business and the presence outside of China and have several key milestones Coming up that will significantly raise our visibility internationally, including the upcoming launch of the Volvo EX30 that will feature our digital copy solution. The recent debut of the LinkingCore 8 SUV Industry profile continues to grow.

Speaker 2

We are also attracting increased attention as a technology provider Within the mobility space through the ecosystem partnerships we announced with Baidu and Mobile this quarter. In summary, we delivered a very strong quarter both from our commercial technology and ecosystem point of view. I will now pass Call over to Peter, who will go through the operating results for the quarter in more detail.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Ziyu, and good day, everyone. Our innovative product portfolio enabled us to secure a number of new design wins during the quarter. Operationally, We were focused on strengthening our portfolio internationally, expanding our partner ecosystem and delivering additional product advancements With operations in 11 major locations across 3 continents, our global footprint facilitates close working relationships with local OEMs and access to a truly global talent pool. As Ziyu mentioned, we have gained significant momentum in the China market by adding 3 additional OEMs to our customer base. We also added 6 new design wins in the 3rd quarter.

Speaker 3

3 of these will utilize the eCAR X and TORA1000 Pro platform, 2 will utilize the eCAR X Makalu platform, with the remaining to adopt Ecar X and Touro 1000 pipeline. These achievements underscore the increasing demand for software defined vehicles and enriched in car experiences, reflecting the significant value proposition and market opportunity for our innovative product portfolio. Our eCARx Antora series offers customers with a high end digital intelligent cockpit experience at an attractive price point. EcarX's well integrated Antora SoC also enables them to save on engineering cost and decrease the time needed to bring their vehicles to market. ECarX Makalu, on the other hand, offers clients an ultra high end performance digital of the computing platform supported by a powerful AMD SoC and Unreal Engine Graphics Solutions.

Speaker 3

With unparalleled 3 d graphics, security and entertainment features, it is one of the most powerful intelligent pockets available on the market. As Zigu mentioned, our solutions are now being integrated into Dongfeng Peugeot Citron Automobile's new Citron Tianmi, Peugeot 4,008 compact SUV and Peugeot's flagship 508L Sedan, which began mass production in the first half of August. These vehicles are equipped with our E-two Intelligent Cockpit Computing Module, which has already been installed in more than 1,000,000 vehicles across 32 separate models from a variety of automotive brands. While we continue to grow in China, we also made significant progress with our global expansion during the quarter. The Volvo EX30, which is equipped with Ecar X Cloud Peak, began start of production in late September and will be launched globally later this year.

Speaker 3

We are confident its launch will significantly raise our international profile and provide customers globally a demonstration of the cutting edge technology and enjoyable in car experience we can deliver. To support our expanding international profile, we showcased our ultra high end performance digital cockpit capabilities and more notably our immersive Mackalup platform at IAA Mobility in Munich in September. Our on-site demo allowed visitors to fully experience these innovative solutions and get a taste for the technologies that will shaped the vehicle industry for years to come. In November, we will be presenting at the Reuters Automotive USA 2023 industry gathering in Detroit, where we will also meet with many North American prospects. On the technology front, we expanded our product portfolio To include the Ecar X Skyland ADAS platforms, Ecar X Skyland Pro is our 1st generation Autonomous Driving Control Unit, which integrates automotive automated parking and active safe driving solutions, such as lane change assist on controlled access highways.

Speaker 3

These ADAS capabilities will allow us to further expand content per vehicle and strengthen customer loyalty by providing a more secure and supportive driving experience. The Lincoln Co 8 is the first vehicle to launch, which contains our full stack solution. It reflects our ability to drive technological innovation and it is representative of the direction that we are headed in. Its digital cockpit is powered by the Antora 1000 Pro platform Integrated with the Ecar X CloudPeak software stack and FlyMe Auto to deliver a smooth and seamless interactive in car experience. Together with Ekar X SkyLamp Pro ADAS platform and 5R10V sensor configuration, These technologies bring L2 plus capability to this flagship car.

Speaker 3

The Linkinco 08 recently received A high score in preliminary ADAS tests under China's new car safety assessment program, the NCAP. With such stellar results, we are confident we can leverage the full stack solution for the Lincoln Code 8 to approach new customers. We continue to carefully invest in the development of new cutting edge technologies and have a strong development pipeline that we eagerly look forward to updating you on in the months ahead. Let me now share with you some updates on our partnership ecosystem, which is helping us develop disruptive technologies that will sustainably drive growth and innovation across the automotive sector. In August, we began collaborating with Mobileye to build a 1 box solution integrating automotive driving and parking features that will enable hands off and Eizoff Self Driving on Controlled Access Highways.

Speaker 3

This solution will be used in the mass production of the Polestar 4 electric SUV Coupe, the world's 1st mass produced car to adopt mobilized chauffeur consumer AV technology. As part of this collaboration, eCARx will be responsible for the development of park and related algorithms and functions, Local production of hardware used in the domain control units and quality management and supply chain management. This represents significant progress in terms both innovation and our go to market strategies. Going forward, eCarX and Mobileye will partner on a driver assisted solution and a cockpit driving parking integrated solution based on the latest iQ6 automotive grade SoC. We also expanded our partnership with Baidu Apollo during the quarter, which will see us become one of the first automotive technology partners to explore the intelligent cockpit application of its AI large language model.

Speaker 3

Through this partnership, multiple innovative functions have been integrated into EcorpX Computing platforms, some of which are expected to be launched on select mass produced LincolnCo models in the near future. This partnership will leverage each party's respective strengths and will usher in a new era of innovative automotive intelligent solutions that will shape the industry at large. We expect these solutions to enable eCARx to help OEMs provide more natural and differentiated speech recognition offer unique smart experiences and propel further innovation in automotive intelligence. To further enhance our technological leadership, we will also incorporate LLM capabilities into our integrated intelligent ecosystem. Our strategic partnership with Shinji Meizu is also very important.

Speaker 3

The FlyMe Auto ecosystem's foundational concept is the integration of smartphone computing and storage capabilities into vehicles to create seamless interconnection. With unique features Such as small window display mode, dynamic effects and sophisticated in car climate control, FlyMe Auto became The first operating system in the automotive industry to receive certification from China's TL Certification Institute for its superior performance, providing customers with unique and smooth interactive in car experience. Finally, an update on eparx Cloud P, our cross domain system developed in collaboration with our joint venture with Volvo. ECAR X Cloud Peak was built to meet strict vehicle safety and information security requirements. It supports multiple operating systems and global mobility ecosystems with security protocols that meet both Chinese and international standards.

Speaker 3

In late August, EPRX5 Peak was awarded the EAL4 Certification for Information Security. In closing, as the automotive industry progresses towards Software Defined Vehicles and thus from distributed EE architectures to central computing platforms, our innovative solutions and strategic partnerships with some of the world's leading tech companies and OEMs will enable us to build and solidify our market leadership and position ourselves at the forefront of this global transition. Now, I will turn the call over to Phil to review our financial results for the past quarter.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Peter, and good day to everyone. We delivered another solid quarter of growth, which further strengthened our position as a key player in the automotive technology sector. Total revenue for the quarter was RMB1.08 billion, a significant increase of 50% year over year. Computing hardware goods revenue was RMB734 million, up by 38% year over year, driven by an increase in demand for our new digital coffee solution. We increased penetration into Geely Ecosystem brand, Smart and Lotus, while our share of wallet in Geely Auto Business remains stable.

Speaker 4

We have shipped our product and solution offering for the new EV market segment and to capture the market growth curve. Software license revenue came in at RMB137 1,000,000, an increase of 73% year over year and 21% sequentially, primarily due to demand through our 2 framework agreements with strategic partners, Patio and Xunjimeizhu. The related demand was high for e cars and Twila platform software and e cars automotive service IT licenses, which reflects the unique value proposition offered by our cutting edge solutions. Service revenue maintained a strong growth momentum as well, With a surge of 92% year over year to RMB209 1,000,000, Lee's remarkable increase was primarily due to revenue recognition timing for non recurring engineering revenue. As we discussed on our last earnings call, We expected the bulk of lease revenue to be booked in the second half of twenty twenty three.

Speaker 4

Gross profit reached RMB331 1,000,000, an an increase of 140% year over year. This was well above the nearly 29% year over year increase in cost of revenue Due to timing differences in completing non recurring and generating contracts, which we plan and manage from a full fiscal year perspective, We expect this as part of the recovery of low year over year gross profit growth delivered last quarter. Looking at quarter 4, which is the peak season for the industry. We see challenges in maintaining the same level of gross margin considering the fierce competition to drive demand and the top As well, there may be further pressure on our hardware product margin performance in the coming quarters due to industry wide price We will focus on driving software and service revenue growth and improving Operating efficiency to mitigate the margin impact. Operating expense increased 22% sequentially and 36% year over year for two main reasons.

Speaker 4

1st, R and D increased 27% sequentially and 71% year over year as we invested to keep pace with advancements made in technology. 2nd, our global expansion into Europe and the United States where we are taking into growing demand as OEMs transition towards new EVs and we are accessing a truly global talent pool. Adjusted EBITDA loss was RMB179 1,000,000, an improvement from the loss of RMB181 1,000,000 last year. This is a slight improvement, but we need to be aware that such result has already included our accelerated R and D investment in ADAS solutions and Jika, the JV with the JV Group. If we take out the loss from JV, the profit could be improved by around $15,000,000 in quarter 3.

Speaker 4

However, we certainly believe the investment in ADAS solutions is worthwhile and it will empower our long term growth. The performance of the ADAS product on Link Code 8 is quite impressive, as an example. The loss per share also improved year over year from RMB1.48 to 0.79. This is mainly attributed to the revenue growth in computing platform products, gross margin improvement and operating cost control. Cost control did not impede our investments in advanced technology development and the global expansion.

Speaker 4

Moving on to our balance sheet. At quarter end, we had RMB688 1,000,000 of cash and restricted cash. With a solid foundation from growth now in place, We expect to allocate additional capital to accelerating our growth trajectory. Maintaining a solid balance sheet is of paramount importance. So we will focus on improving operating efficiency across our supply chain, inventory and cash flow.

Speaker 4

Looking forward, We will maintain our operational focus on optimizing efficiency and cost management, while carefully allocating resources towards opportunities That can enhance future growth prospects and drive innovation. Sustainable and fiscally responsible business practice are backbone of our long term financial health. With that, I will turn the call back to Ziyi for some concluding remarks. Then we will start the Q and A session.

Speaker 2

We are excited about our position in a significant and flourishing market, where industry trends are driving robust SAC growth. We are pleased to witness that our customer base has Further extended beyond GD Group, our unique technology and diverse product offerings have enabled new design wins and forces the strategic ecosystem partnerships. We are committed to continued progress in these areas. Meanwhile, we are predominantly allocating resources towards opportunities that can enhance future growth prospectus and drive innovation, much like our ongoing efforts to stress our international business and the printing. Operator, we will now open the floor for questions.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. This time, I will open the first question. First question comes from the line of Mai Liu from HSBC. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

This is Mai from HSBC. Thank you, management, for taking my questions and congratulations on the strong third quarter results. I have two questions. The first is regarding the gross margin. We saw our company has maintained a pretty good stable gross margin quarter over quarter Why the very challenging pricing environment?

Speaker 5

And how do we perceive the gross margin outlook going forward? And will the pricing pressure in our clients escalate to us? And could you give us some colors on the pricing mechanics with our customers? And my second question is regarding the sector. How do you perceive the inflection point of the non striving functions In both China and the world, especially we are saying the EVP players like XPeng, Liotta, Zicker are rolling out their non striving function.

Speaker 5

And how do we see the inflection point for non striving in China and also in the world In the next coming 2 to 3 years maybe? Yes, that's my question. Thank you.

Speaker 4

Thank you. This is Phil. I'm going to take the first question regarding the margin performance. Yes, in quarter 3, we delivered another strong quarter and we are on track to deliver And looking forward, quarter 4 is a traditional peak season in the automotive Industry and all OEMs will work on the shipment and maximization. There could be a trade off on pricing, Volume, porosity and we anticipate the last margin erosion will transfer throughout the entire industry chain.

Speaker 4

We are ready to catch up with the trend and finish off the year under our release in a strong way. So the profit momentum we viewed in the 1st 3 quarters can help us So we have confidence to deliver our original gross margin goal. And The conference actually was built on our execution on profit performance in the first couple of quarters And we will continue to add. Number 1, the initiative is about the software and the service portfolio optimization. The second one, we will continue to drive the cost The third one, we will drive product cost selling to enhance the vehicle cost efficiency, Right.

Speaker 4

So having said that, the new EV market is now having a fierce price competition on the market shifting between OEMs And the lease pricing pressures are expected to transfer, right, to the Tier 1 vendors and affect the entire market, as I mentioned. And our customers are also working on the architecture transformation, so as to enhance the digital copy capability as well as the cost optimization. So, we do foresee the hardware profit will erode, but it will be offset by the initiatives I just mentioned about. And we've also proactively participated in the EE architecture transformation discussion and we are sure that our Technology platform will be fulfilling the customer demand and the transition time window is coming soon by an opportunity for. So with that, we are able to mitigate the margin erosion on hardware solution at the same time drive our software and service further growth.

Speaker 4

So we are pretty comfortable with our ability to compete in that environment with our food stack solution that we already offer on Link Code 8 And we expect more to come.

Speaker 3

And then maybe I'll take the second question, Phil. Thanks for that answer. I mean, when we look at the autonomous market, It's certainly still in its initial stages, but quite a dynamic and I think exciting market for Echorix to participate in. So as we talked about earlier in the presentation, the Lincoln Co08 is in the market containing our full stack solution, which includes The Digital Cockpit as well as our Skyland PRO Autonomous System, that's our first significant autonomous Launch in the market that ADAS Level 2 plus system eventually will through OTA features include Navigate on autopilot, and we see that solution being very competitive, both feature set And cost competitive product out in the autonomous market. When we scan both the China markets And the global markets relative to autonomous, certainly there's a number of OEMs that are leading in China.

Speaker 3

I think the deployment of systems there will certainly be much more aggressive. We believe that they'll be Mostly focused on the Level 2 plus space and that's where the volume in that autonomous market will be, but certainly there will be Some offerings to go beyond that. We're excited about our collaboration with Mobileye That will enable us to launch be one of the first to launch the Chauffeur system on the Polestar 4. We recently made detailed announcement That partnership as well, and we're collaborating very close with Mobileye to offer some unique customizations with this IQ6 and Chofar solution that we'll be bringing into the Polestar 4 as well as other vehicles. When we look across the European markets and North American markets, we're certainly engaged with a number of OEMs to have discussions About the products that I talked about, I think the adoption rate could be a little slower in some of those markets.

Speaker 3

We certainly also see that Level 2 plus will be the largest volume for some years to come, but there's certainly many investments going on in the autonomous And we're excited with the opportunity to participate with the products that we're bringing to the vehicles, first in China, but I believe strongly that we'll have opportunities to bring those products to the rest of world as well.

Operator

For the questions. One moment for the next questions. Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Luo Jia from

Speaker 6

Congratulations on the results for the quarter. And I have two questions. The first one is related to Antora 1.0 Pro. And we see that Link 8 has been delivered for some time. Have we received any feedback about the use of Amtora 1000 Pro?

Speaker 6

And could you share any other models which will be equipped with Antora 1000 Pro in 2020 And the second question is, considering that we may have more than 30 new products next year, Could you share about our budget in R and D for 2024? And do we still maintain the breakeven points by the end of next year? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Liza. Maybe I'll take the first part of that question Concerning the Antora Pro digital cockpit, as we've launched the Lincoln Co08, it's a First opportunity for EcarX to put our full stack solution onto a vehicle. So important for the organization because it represents The ability to launch the product from what I'll say from silicon to cloud services, that was our Antora Pro Digital cockpit computing platform on that vehicle, the software stack is our full software stack, Cloud Peak software stack in that car as well as the FlyMe Auto integration with the cell phone with the Meizu cell phone that is also launched on that We've seen very strong demand for that vehicle and we anticipate that The demand in the market will continue to grow for that car. So we're excited about continuing to service that vehicle and launch additional Features in future OTAs, both in the digital cockpit and in the Skyland autonomous system that's launched on that vehicle. When we look at future launches, we have additional launches that are planned for next year with both the with all three of our Significant products.

Speaker 3

So the Antora series, the Antora Pro series, as well as our MacLeod series will have a large number of launches as we move through 2024 on a number of different platforms. So I think that will contribute to a significant volume growth we see for the organization on a go forward Yes.

Speaker 4

And I would take the second question regarding the R and D investment. So looking at our current So actually for quarter 2 and quarter 3, R and D expense as a percentage of revenue will be stable around at around 30%. So we will keep investing into The other ones, the Tenorgy Development and the product availability for market. There are well, there's a potential to adjust on the investment percentage As the scaling of the revenue growth occurs, right, and we will keep it at a reasonable level, 30% That's our general guideline. And we also expect the significant growth and the possibility of continuing to the same fixed cost.

Speaker 4

So the original guidance on breakeven was based on the company's position at the starting of this year and the goal is still there And that breakeven could be further pushed out to 2025 given the investment that we're making in a brand new product portfolio. As Peter just mentioned, We have a GBV merged starting in Q2 and we also invested a bit into the AD So nevertheless, we are still working on that goal. And as long as we will be investing in additional product lines, the whole group's profitability will be different, but we will make sure that we can offer investment

Speaker 6

Thank you. It's really helpful.

Operator

Thank you for the questions. One moment for the next question. Next question comes from the line of Derek Soderbergh from Cantor Fitzgerald. Please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Yes. Hey, thanks for taking my questions. I want to start with the pricing environment. I'm curious How sort of ASPs are moving? And then as it relates to inflation, Do you guys have maybe inflation clauses embedded in your pricing contracts and how quickly are those Contracts negotiated every year.

Speaker 7

Thanks.

Speaker 4

Thank you. I'm going to address this question. So, yes, the pricing competition is observed for the industry at least during the 1st 3 quarters. And as I mentioned, the pricing on the cost will be transferred to the entire industry. However, e cast, we Right now, we are offering the full stack solutions, right, including the computing platform, software operating system and ADAS Solutions.

Speaker 4

And on top of that, we are also driving cost optimization, so including the tactics you just mentioned. So during full contracts we signed with our customers and vendors, we also Defined the flexibility in terms of the product exchange, okay. And at the same time, right, we also provide Our high value added services to the customers. So with that, we are able to maintain and keep increasing the ASP, At the same time, we allowed to put out pricing away our cost optimization activities.

Speaker 7

Got it. Got it. And then as my follow-up, I'm curious if you could talk a bit about there's A strike in the United States, with the auto workers. I'm curious if there's any sort of knockout effects that you're seeing on your end. And then just on the macro environment, are you seeing any particular areas of strength or weakness that have kind of changed On the past quarter or 2?

Speaker 7

Thanks.

Speaker 3

Derek, maybe I'll capture that question. I We've talked about a number of exciting launches for Ecar X, and I think that's what's driving our volume, both in the current quarter and as we look Our outlook into next year, the launches certainly with a number of electric vehicles Are seeing very strong adoption in the market. So we mentioned the Volvo EX30. We have launches coming with the Polestar brand And with our other with Inco brand and also a lot of activities beyond our core customers like we've described Earlier today with the launch of products with the Peugeot Citron and Dongfeng brands that we see launching this quarter. So I think we have a very strong pipeline.

Speaker 3

When we look at the impact from The U. S. Strike doesn't really affect our business at this point

Speaker 4

in time.

Speaker 3

There were but we certainly see very strong demand for our products Both as we go through here Q4 and as we move into 2024.

Speaker 7

Great. Thanks.

Operator

The questions? Our next question comes from the line of Sushun Chung from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Hi, this is Jane from Jefferies. Thank you so much for taking my questions and congratulations on the strong financial performance. I have two questions for management. My first question is about the product pipeline. Can you share more colors about the new product mass production timeline and guidance of the delivery targets of each product line?

Speaker 8

And I'm also wondering which customer or car model or platform do you think can be the strongest growth driver next year? And second question is regarding the competition from Huawei, especially in terms of the Smart Copay solution. Huawei is expanding its cooperation with multiple carmakers and will launch more new models. And I chose M7 and M9 has gained much interest and reputations from customers.

Speaker 6

How do you

Speaker 8

think of the competition from Huawei since we are also developing the Fleming Auto operating system with XinJi Meizu? These are my questions. Thank you.

Speaker 7

Yes. Thank you for your question.

Speaker 3

Let me go ahead and address both elements. We have a large number of new launches as we go into 2024. So we see launches across all of our products, Both in the digital cockpit space with, as I mentioned earlier, with Antora and Antora Pro, those vehicles Vehicles deploying those systems launched throughout 2024 on a number of different brands. We mentioned some today, especially with the Volvo EX30 is a significant launch for us as it enabled us to deliver vehicles globally Throughout, I believe it's more than 40 countries on that vehicle. Also, we mentioned the Lincoln Co08 with our full stack solution is a key benchmark product for E Carax and it's very well received in the marketplace as well.

Speaker 3

As we go through 2024, we expect Launches with our dedo cost fit products as well as additional launches on the Skyland ADAS system. So we'll continue to see the steady progress that we've made in 2023 and extend that into 2024. As Phil mentioned, we're continuing to invest in our pipeline with future product developments, both in the ADAS space as well as the digital cockpit space. Recently, we announced the Mobileye collaboration that will bring a new and unique product offering to our portfolio with a future launch on a Polestar 4 Coupe as well as we'll likely be making additional announcements as we go through the next 1 to 2 quarters on investments in our digital cockpit platform as well. And then your second question was relative to Huawei.

Speaker 3

I would say we're really excited to see Huawei enter the market. I mean, they're a very strong competitor that brings a great technology stack, But we're also quite excited about the offering that eCarX can bring both with our computing platform, Our software stack and the FlyMe Auto collaboration that we have with Meizu. So e CarX It is a very unique has a very unique position in the market because we truly offer a fully vertical technology stack. So we go, As I said earlier in the call, we go from silicon right through the cloud services. And I think we bring a very competitive Product offering to that space, Huawei is a great company and it's great to see them invest in the automotive marketplace.

Speaker 3

I think it demonstrates The potential for this for the continued expansion of this product in the market and How customers how end customers are differentiating their purchases in vehicles. And I think if you look at our product offering, It's very capable as well, provides a very unique user experience, especially with the FlyMe AutoStack And the full cell phone integration that we can do with the Meizu cell phones. And I think we're very comfortable with our ability to compete On a go forward basis and excited to see additional new technology partners come into this space and really demonstrate how significant the demand will be in the future.

Operator

Thank you for the questions. Next question comes from the line of Jiaqi Zhang from CICC. Please go ahead.

Speaker 9

Congratulations on the results for this quarter. So my name is Jiaqi and I'm from CICC. Thank you for taking the questions. So I've seen Some great progress in the software provided by Intyrex in this quarter's presentation. So I would like to ask 3 questions regarding the software products.

Speaker 9

The first one is regarding the Cloud Peak, which is launched in the Volvo EX30. I think it is probably Launches on hardware platform that is not produced by KAIX. So could you give us some hints How is the projects how is the projects collaborate with the other party? And what is the business model? And what is the gross margin be like in this project?

Speaker 9

So that's my first question. The second question is regarding the Flymi Auto system. So it is It has been launched on Link OX, but we have noticed that it is not launched in Link OX 6. So could you give us some guidance on what kind of projects will you flatten out, which ones will not? And could you also refresh us what is the Lightning Auto business model like?

Speaker 9

And what are the Well, there are going to be more projects going to launch from the auto. So that's my second question. My last question is regarding the autonomous driving functions on Skyline Pro. So who is actually responsible for developing these functions? And how is the business model going to be like?

Speaker 9

Yes. Thank you so much.

Speaker 7

Yes. Thank you for

Speaker 3

your questions. So let me try to address them 1 by 1. So as we look at the CloudSeq solution that we've launched on the EX30, this is a Demonstration of Ekar X capability to deliver products on a global scale. So we have a significant number of engineers that are actively working on continuing Sure that product. It's a product that we developed jointly with our joint venture with Volvo Cars and one that will feature the Google Automotive Services.

Speaker 3

In that environment, as we mentioned earlier, it is launched on Our Qualcomm SoC as well as with through tight collaboration through a great partner that we have with Visteon on the supply chain side. But I would say e CarX is playing a position of a system integrator and software developer. We've also We've contributed significantly to the hardware design in that environment. As we have already announced in our Antora series, we bring supply capabilities to our portfolio. So we operate in a number of different business models to deliver those solutions to the marketplace.

Speaker 3

We play a very strong position in terms of development of the software, delivering The UIUX that has been detailed by Volvo Cars and also integrating all the solutions from Google Automotive into the software capabilities of that vehicle. Relative to The FlyMe Auto position, it's a the Lincoln Co08 is really a great product. And when you couple that With the cell phone integration and the unique user experience that we bring through our full vertical technology stack, I think it really is a differentiating product in the marketplace. There are many new launches coming with the FlyMe Auto solution in the software stack. And in that construct, we have a Unique relationship with Maize that we work very tightly with them on the integration of that capability into the vehicle.

Speaker 3

There are A large number of launches inside our pipeline, and we're working to deploy that on more vehicles As we go through 2024 2025. And I think it provides an extremely Solid user experience and differentiated user experience with a full integration of the cell phone in the vehicle. And we really see that's the one of the core founding principles in eCarracks that That both Ziyu and Eric saw as they established our business is this not only this importance of both software and Compute power to the automotive experience on a go forward basis, but the integration of, let's say, 1 digital life inside the vehicle, where your cell phone and the car become 1 user experience. And through the collaboration with the Xinyu Meizu Group, we bring that Life and the Lincoln KO 8 plus in a number of launches that we'll see throughout 2024 and go forward. And then lastly, you mentioned autonomous on the Skyland Pro system.

Speaker 3

There's a it's Significant activity from GKA and from e Car REx to develop the driving algorithms for that vehicle, driving and parking algorithms And a significant portion of that development was done in house. We often engage a number of partners. And I think we've announced that Black Sesame was a key partner for us in the deployment of that system. And Some of the solutions and software stack, primarily with perception software, it was done by Black Sesame, but Much of the driving decision software, SensorFusion software and so on, e CarX brought and Gika brought to that vehicle. And as we have as I look across our feature deployment relative to the OTAs that will come to that vehicle, we will continue to deploy new In that ADAS system, as we move through this quarter and next quarter, and we believe quite strongly it will be Competitive solution, both in the China market and potentially even in the global market.

Speaker 3

I mean, we mentioned very high rating on the CN CAP Score and we are continuing to qualify that also in other safety stores. It was built from a very strong foundation in terms of AutoSAR and QNX at the base level of that software to make sure it's really

Operator

At this time, there are no further questions from the line. Allow me to hand the call back to management for closing.

Speaker 4

All right. Thank you all for participating in today's earnings call. So, eCAG, so we are And the e cards also gave us strong momentum in business growth and profitability enhancement and we will further devote our heart and soul into that. And looking forward to talking with you very soon in coming quarter 4 and the annual 3 quarter cycle. Thank you again.

Operator

That does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

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Earnings Conference Call
ECARX Q3 2023
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