靠AI半年赚了4亿，“真正的对手不是大厂是初创”

Core Viewpoint - Meitu has experienced a significant stock price increase of nearly five times over the past year, driven by AI applications, particularly in paid subscriptions, despite a low-profile approach in recent months [2][4]. Financial Performance - In the first half of 2025, Meitu's total revenue reached 1.82 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%, while net profit grew by 30.8% to nearly 400 million RMB, surpassing the entire profit of 370 million RMB in 2023 [4][5]. - Adjusted net profit for the first half of 2025 increased by 71.3% to 470 million RMB [4][5]. - The revenue from imaging and design products, which is Meitu's largest income source, grew by 45.2% to 1.35 billion RMB, accounting for 74% of total revenue [5][6]. AI and Business Strategy - The growth in revenue and profit is primarily attributed to breakthroughs in AI applications, particularly in paid subscriptions, with the number of paid subscribers reaching approximately 15.4 million, a year-on-year increase of over 42% [6][7]. - Meitu's future growth strategy focuses on AI-driven productivity tools and globalization, targeting KOLs, online merchants, and video bloggers [8][9]. - The company has partnered with Alibaba for an 18 billion RMB investment to enhance its AI capabilities and ensure competitiveness in model training [3][9][10]. Market Position and Competition - The AI imaging sector is highly competitive, with many startups emerging as significant players, prompting Meitu to adopt a more agile and focused approach similar to startups [11][12]. - Meitu's CEO emphasizes the importance of maintaining a sense of urgency and agility to respond to competition from both startups and larger companies [12][13]. Research and Development - Meitu's R&D investment for the first half of 2025 was 450 million RMB, a 6.1% increase, with a focus on leveraging open-source models and third-party APIs to optimize resource allocation [8][9]. - The company aims to enhance its product capabilities through collaboration with Alibaba, particularly in AI model training and cloud services [9][10].