On December 9, JU QUAN Technology held an earnings conference for the third quarter, as reported by the STAR Daily.

JU QUAN Technology's main business is the research and design of smart metering chip. The company's product categories cover measurement chips (single-phase metering, three-phase metering, single-phase SoC chip and IoT metering), MCU chips, power line communication chips, etc.

In the first three quarters, JU QUAN Technology's performance was lackluster, with both revenue and profit showing varying degrees of decline. The company's total operating income was 0.449 billion yuan, a 5.67% year-on-year decrease, and net income was 71.4937 million yuan, a 39.53% year-on-year decrease.

Regarding the decline in performance, Chairman Yang Shicong of JU QUAN Technology stated in response to questions from the STAR Daily that on one hand, the company will control product costs and management efficiency, mainly by reducing costs and increasing efficiency in upstream raw material procurement and in-house research and design.

On the other hand, adjusting the product structure, we will develop more products in the power line communication field that meet customer demands in order to increase the market share and sales proportion of power line communication, further enhancing the company's gross margin.

In August 2020, the State Grid Corporation of China released the 'General Technical Specifications for Single and Three-phase Smart IoT Energy Meters,' indicating that China's smart energy meters will shift from the IEC standard to the IR46 standard. IR46 is expected to be a major driving force for the expansion of the smart meter market in the future. Currently, the bids for smart energy meters in 2024 are showing an increasing trend, with a year-on-year increase of 106.96% and 8.16% for the first bidding of single-phase and three-phase smart energy meters, respectively.

Chairman Yang Shicong of JU QUAN Technology mentioned that the IR46 standard, compared to the 2020 standard, separates the product measurement and functionality management, evolving the architecture from the previous combination of measurement chips and MCUs into independent measurement and management chips that need to work together. The performance requirements are higher, and there will be improvements in terms of value and quantity.

At the earnings conference, Zheng Wenchang, the general manager of Juchen Technology, announced several R&D developments: the company's first industrial-grade BMS AFE chip developed has achieved mass production indicators in August 2024. Currently, the company has received orders from downstream customers and is actively stocking and delivering them.

"Currently, the preliminary design work of the company's first research and development industrial-grade AFE chip has been completed. Some customers have passed product testing and certification, entering the scheme design phase; the energy meter chip is currently in customer testing and certification, and will be put into small-scale production after meeting product performance and customer requirements." Zheng Wenchang said.

When asked about the latest developments in single-series energy meter chips by an investor, Ling Yun, the secretary of the board of directors of Juchen Technology, stated that the company's BMS single-series energy meter chip has achieved mass production indicators this year and is currently in the customer scheme testing phase.

Regarding future R&D directions, Zheng Wenchang stated that the company will continue to focus on the development of smart grid terminal equipment chips, updating and iterating on existing products, and integrating them with electrical utilities operating systems to make the products more intelligent, informational, and remote. At the same time, new products will be developed in the BMS chip field, introducing more cost-effective products, especially in the application field of vehicle-grade AFE chips, to achieve the localization development of chips in this area as soon as possible.