Changjiang Commercial Daily News Changjiang Commercial Daily reporter Zhang Pei
Whether sharing power banks is a good business has been controversial since the beginning of the industry.
In 2017, standing on the tuyere of the "sharing economy", Cai Guangyuan, who has many years of market experience, founded Monster Charge and entered the shared power bank market.In the remaining 7 months of that year, Monster Charge completed three rounds of financing with a total of more than 300 million yuan, which is evident in the popularity of capital.
The monster recharged and took the lead, running all the way.In 2020, it ranked first in the shared charging industry with a market share of 34.4%, and was successfully listed on Nasdaq in 2021, becoming the "first share of shared charging".
However, the impact of the epidemic has accelerated the exposure of the shortcomings of the industry's business model.According to the financial report, the total revenue of Monster Charge in 2021 will reach a record high of 3.585 billion yuan, but this year the company has also turned from profit to loss, with a net loss of 125 million yuan for the year.
Cai Guangyuan also started a new attempt, laying out the popular liquor business and opening up the second growth curve.However, at present, the new business has not brought great benefits.
In the face of declining traffic and shrinking market space, Cai Guangyuan is actively exploring new business models in order to enhance hematopoietic capabilities.
The monster that rides the wind charges
Before founding Monster Charge, Cai Guangyuan worked as brand development and marketing director in well-known companies such as Unilever, Xtep, New Elements, and Uber.Years of market experience have refined his keen market sense.
In 2017, in what was later called the "first year of the sharing economy", many "sharing economy" projects have sprung up. Standing on the "sharing economy", the resolute Cai Guangyuan established it in May 2017. Monster charging.
Compared to Xiaodian and Jiedian who entered the game one step ahead, Cai Guangyuan and his monster charging were considered late entrants.However, this does not prevent it from gaining the favor of capital.According to Tianyancha data, in the year of its establishment, the company received three rounds of financing totaling over 300 million yuan.Since then, Monster Charge has successively received investments from SoftBank Asia, Bank of China International, Goldman Sachs China, and Alibaba.
In 2021, Monster Charge successfully listed on Nasdaq.
The prospectus shows that among the institutional shareholders of Monster Charge, Alibaba holds 16.5% of the shares through Taobao China, the largest shareholder for Monster Charge; Hillhouse Capital holds 11.7%, Shunwei Capital holds 8.8%, and SoftBank Asia holds shares 7.7%, Xiaomi and Xintianyu both hold 7.5%, and Yunjiu and CMC hold 5.8% and 5.4% respectively - the shareholder lineup is luxurious.
The performance of monster charging in the market is also really good.According to the industry report of iResearch in the prospectus, from the perspective of the market structure in 2020, Monster Charge came from behind, ranking first in the shared charging industry with a market share of 34.4%, becoming the largest shared charging operator in China.As of December 31, 2020, Monster Charge has built a shared charging network that includes more than 664,000 POIs (points), and has accumulated more than 219 million registered users.
In 2019, Monster Charge achieved a revenue of 2.022 billion yuan, a net profit of 167 million yuan, and a net profit margin of 8.2%. Under non-GAAP, the adjusted net profit reached 206 million yuan.This data also proves the profitability of the shared power bank business.
However, in 2020, affected by factors such as the new crown epidemic, although Monster Charge's revenue increased by 38.9% to 2.809 billion yuan, its net profit was only 75.4 million yuan, and the net profit rate also dropped to 2.7%. , the adjusted net profit was 113 million yuan.This data of increasing revenue but not profit also sounded the alarm for the operation of monster charging.
The second curve is yet to be cultivated
According to Monster Charge’s 2021 annual report, as of the end of that year, Monster Charge had a total of 845,000 POIs nationwide, with 13.8 million new users in a single quarter, a total of 286.9 million registered users, and 5.7 million online shared charging treasures.Total revenue also hit a record high of 3.585 billion yuan, an increase of 27.6% over 2020.
However, this year, monster charging turned from profit to loss, with a net loss of 125 million yuan for the year.
Revenue increased but net profit turned loss year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in sales and marketing expenses under the direct sales model, which included incentive fees and commissions for cooperation sites.According to the financial report, Monster Charge’s sales and marketing expenses in 2021 will be 2.951 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.1%, accounting for 83.3% of total revenue.In 2019 and 2020, its sales and marketing expenses accounted for 67% and 76% of revenue, respectively.
Faced with this predicament, Cai Guangyuan is also actively adjusting the operating model and increasing the layout of the agency model.
In addition, the industry has raised prices in response to the pressure.As early as 2019, reports about the "price increase" of shared power banks have emerged one after another, and monster charging is no exception.In 2021, some media investigated the charging price of some monsters in Chengdu and found that the rental fee in Chengdu Ito Yokado is 4 yuan/hour, 28 yuan/24 hours, and the price in Chengdu Qunguang Plaza is 3 yuan/hour. , 30 yuan / 24 hours.According to the payment records of some users, in Chengdu Raffles City, the maximum price of charging monsters for 24 hours is even as high as 40 yuan.
This immediately attracted regulatory attention, and the soaring shared power bank industry was required to rectify, clarify pricing rules, strictly enforce clearly marked prices, and regulate market price behavior and competition.At present, the average price of each brand is 2.2-3.3 yuan per hour, and 69%-96% of the cabinets are priced at 3 yuan per hour and below. From the perspective of the highest price, they are not more than 1%.
On the other hand, in order to get rid of the shackles of a single revenue structure, Cai Guangyuan started a new attempt-on April 1, 2021, Cai Guangyuan confirmed in an interview with the media that he was going to use Kaihuan liquor as the first time of the second growth curve. try.
In Cai Guangyuan's view, Monster Charge has more than 600,000 outlets and more than 200 million users. Based on their needs, he found that alcoholic beverages are a good choice, and "the liquor market is a trillion-dollar market, and its gross profit margin is relatively high. Let companies have more bullets to do brand promotion."
At present, this "second growth curve" has not yet shown value.According to the financial report for the first quarter of 2022, the company's revenue was 737 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13%; the net loss was 96.4 million yuan.According to the business division, the company's mobile device charging business revenue in the quarter was 717.7 million yuan, mobile power sales revenue was 12.9 million yuan, and other business revenue (mainly including revenue from advertising services and new business plans) was only 6.4 million yuan.
On the secondary market, as of the close on June 24, Monster Charge was quoted at $1.15 per share, with a market value of $303 million.When Monster Charge went public a year ago, its IPO price was set at $8.50 per share, and it closed at $8.54 per share that day, with a total market value of about $2.129 billion.From this point of view, the market value of monster charging has shrunk by 85.77%.
