World

  • In 2020, China surpasses the United States to become the EU’s largest trading partner. The merchandise trade volume between China and the EU in 2020 is approximately 586 billion Euros, making it the EU’s largest merchandise trading partner. During the same period, the U.S.-EU trade volume of goods was approximately 555 billion euros, making it the EU’s second-largest trading partner. Affected by factors such as the COVID-19 epidemic and “Brexit”, the UK is now the EU’s third-largest trading partner.
  • The Japanese government is scheduled to start the COVID-19 vaccination this week. However, the rapid increase in the production capacity of dry ice, or solid carbon dioxide, required to store and transport the vaccine is facing challenges.
  • Affected by an unprecedented cold wave, temperatures in most parts of the United States dropped sharply. Millions of households in Texas were forced to turn off power for the first time in a decade, and the energy market fell into chaos. Large-scale power outages in cities such as Dallas and Houston take turns, one hour at a time, and in some cases longer power outages. The surge in heating demand pushes the grid to its limit.

Industry

  • Due to excessive market demand, many lithium battery manufacturers have soared orders, and they are busy working overtime during the Spring Festival. CATL announced in early February that it planned to build a lithium battery production base in Zhaoqing, Guangdong. Market demand coupled with the expansion of production by enterprises has already set off a wave of price increases for lithium battery raw materials. At present, lithium battery material companies including Dangsheng Technology, Dow Technology, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy, Xiangtan Electrochemical, and Shanshan Co., Ltd. are actively planning the expansion of raw material production capacity.
  • Due to severe cold weather, many American energy companies shut down their equipment. Chevron Phillips Chemical Company said that due to severe cold weather at its Pasadena plant in Texas, the company will prepare to shut down equipment; Onkyo Oil and Gas Pipeline Company said the crude oil pipeline of Line 59 was closed after a power outage; Exxon Mobil closed its Beaumont refinery in Texas due to severe cold weather; Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery also closed due to cold weather.
  • IDC released the 2020 report on the Indian smartphone market. The market has shrunk slightly. Two giants, Xiaomi and Samsung, occupy the top two positions. The top five companies include four Chinese brands. Xiaomi gained 27% of the Indian smartphone market last year, ranking first. However, Xiaomi’s mobile phone sales fell by 6% to 41 million units.
  • Industrial metal futures continued to rise, with copper prices hitting new highs in more than eight years, tin prices hitting new highs in nearly eight years, and nickel, aluminum, and lead all rising continuously.
  • IDC: In the fourth quarter of 2020, Lenovo and Huawei entered the top five best-selling personal computers in Russia. Leading the market in the quarter were HP (18.3%), Lenovo (18%), Acer (17.1%), Asus (11.8%), and Huawei (5.4%).

Company

  • Xiaomi Group: Vice President Lu Weibing said that this year will focus on the whole house smart field. In the future, consumers will be able to experience related products at Xiaomi House. In the future, Xiaomi House will open stores in counties and cities at a faster rate. Previously, Chairman Lei Jun had stated that AIoT business has been listed as one of the core development strategies for this year, and most Xiaomi homes across the country will successively have whole-house smart display spaces.

PS:AIoT: Artificial Intellience & Internet of Things