Chinese AI glasses maker Rokid planning Hong Kong IPO: sources
Listing plan comes as giants Apple, Meta, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei, plus start-ups like Xreal, Rayneo, anticipate market growth
Rokid, a Hangzhou-based maker of smart glasses, is preparing to file for a Hong Kong listing as early as the end of April, according to sources familiar with the matter, as artificial intelligence-powered eyewear gains traction in the mainstream market.
The planned listing comes as global and domestic technology groups including Meta Platforms and Apple, as well as China’s Alibaba Group Holding – through the brand name Quark – Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies, all rush into the market. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
CATL set to boost global energy storage with world’s largest testing facility in Xiamen
The firm says it has completed a 3 billion yuan research facility for testing energy storage systems
The company, which commands nearly 40 per cent of the world’s EV battery market, announced on Thursday the official launch of a 3 billion yuan (US$442.52 million) research facility in Xiamen, a city in China’s southeastern Fujian province.
The testing platform – which is expected to open to the whole industry – may help China-made products expand overseas, according to Chen Xiaobo, head of ESVL, as regulators in Western grids typically have higher standards for safety and technology.
“If the products of domestic integrators expanding overseas can perform well in quality, reliability, safety and connection with local grids [at ESVL], I believe this will rapidly enhance their overall competitiveness,” Chen said at a media briefing on Thursday.
Compared with the current on-grid tests, the facility may be able to shorten the validation process by up to two months, according to CATL.
The ESVL facility comprises five laboratories and was designed based on multiple existing testing centres across the world. Chen said the new facility would achieve higher precision, lower current fluctuations and voltage and would have rapid response capability required by artificial intelligence data centres (AIDC).
Amid the energy transition and the investment frenzy for AIDCs globally, ESS demand is on the rise, as it can stabilise an established electricity network and support the adoption of new energy – like solar and wind – as well as reduce energy costs. Lithium-ion batteries form a critical role for AIDCs, an area where CATL is a world leader.
Besides its dominance in EV batteries, CATL also ranked No 1 worldwide in the five years up to 2025 in sales of 121 gigawatt-hour energy storage batteries, achieving a global market share of 30.4 per cent.
But in the ESS market, CATL was out-performed by the industry’s top suppliers, with Tesla, Sungrow, BYD, Huawei and CRRC Zhuzhou Institute taking the top five spots for global shipment volume last year, according to the Taipei-based InfoLink Consulting.
To attract more partners, CATL’s ESVL plans to initiate a small-group alliance and offer discounts for testing services in its early stage.
“Only by working together to get the whole industry strong can we all have opportunities,” he said.
