Niu Technologies (NASDAQ: NIU) is a global urban-mobility brand centered on smart electric two-wheeled transportation. Headquartered in Beijing, the company designs, produces, and sells intelligent electric vehicles and related ecosystems, positioning its products as compact, portable, and technology-forward alternatives for short-distance city travel. Across its lineup, NIU emphasizes connected features ...Niu Technologies (NASDAQ: NIU) is a global urban-mobility brand centered on smart electric two-wheeled transportation. Headquartered in Beijing, the company designs, produces, and sells intelligent electric vehicles and related ecosystems, positioning its products as compact, portable, and technology-forward alternatives for short-distance city travel. Across its lineup, NIU emphasizes connected features and rider safety, including anti-theft capabilities and GPS tracking, enabled through its NIU mobile application.
From a product perspective, NIU’s offerings span multiple electric vehicle categories and brands. The company is known for electric scooters and related mobility devices, including popular product series such as NQi, MQi, UQi, and Gova scooters/motorcycles. NIU also manufactures and sells KQi electric kick-scooters, e-bikes such as NIU Aero and BQi, and electric motorcycles such as RQi and TQi, alongside hybrid motorcycles like YQi. Complementing the vehicle hardware, the business also sells NIU accessories and spare parts grouped into practical scooter accessories (e.g., rain gear, gloves, storage solutions, phone holders), lifestyle merchandise (apparel and lifestyle items), and performance-oriented components (e.g., upgraded wheels, suspension, brakes, and other parts).
In terms of services and digital cost structure, NIU’s app supports functions that reduce after-sales friction and support recurring engagement: repair requests, DIY repair guides, a service-station locator, theft reporting, and “smart” features. The ecosystem also includes service/coverage programs such as NIU Cover (insurance), NIU Care (maintenance and reservations at service centers), and NIU Wash (monthly complimentary wash coupons). This blend of hardware plus software-enabled services can help improve customer retention and lifetime value relative to a vehicle-only model.
NIU’s go-to-market approach is multi-channel. It distributes and services products through city partner networks and franchised stores, independent distributors, third-party e-commerce platforms, and its own official online store. International expansion (supported by distributors in multiple countries) allows the company to reach customers outside China while maintaining a recognizable NIU branded ecosystem.
Financially, NIU operates with typical manufacturing and supply-chain dynamics for consumer electronics/vehicles (inventory, capex for production and operations, and after-sales supply of parts). Reported operating and profitability metrics can vary over time with market demand, component costs, and investment cycles; however, the company’s model—vehicles plus recurring app-enabled services and parts/accessories—aims to support a more durable revenue mix than one-time hardware sales alone. Key leadership includes CEO Yan Li (also described as having served as CEO and COO since December 2017 in the provided materials). Overall, NIU’s strategic “wishes” can be summarized as redefining urban mobility—delivering technology-enabled, high-performance electric two-wheel vehicles and a service ecosystem that makes electric mobility easier, safer, and more convenient for everyday riders.
Operator: Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Niu Technologies First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, we are recording today's call. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now I will turn the call over to Ms. Kristal Li, Investor Relations Manager of Niu Technologies. Ms. Li, please go ahead.
Kristal Li: Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone. Welcome to today's conference call to discuss Niu Technologies results for the first quarter of 2026. The earnings press release, corporate presentation and financial spreadsheets have been posted on our Investor Relations website. This call is being webcast from company's IR site as well, and a replay of the call will be available soon. Please note, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors. The company's actual results may be materially different from those expressed today. Further information regarding the risk factors is included in company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Our earnings press release and this call include a discussion of certain non-GAAP financial measures. The press release contains a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results. On the call with me today are our CEO, Dr. Yan Li; and CFO, Ms. Wenjuan Zhou. Now let me turn the call over to CEO, Yan.
Yan Li: Thank you, Kristal. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 results call. The first quarter of 2026 was a period of high-quality execution and strategic resilience within a complex regulatory environment. The total sales volume reached 261,000 units, representing a robust of 28.7% year-over-year increase. Revenue for the quarter reached RMB 909.52 million, up 33.4% year-over-year. In China, the sales volume increased 35.4% to nearly 248,000 units. This growth was powered by a major structural breakthrough in our electric motorcycle segment, which successfully offset a tempered contraction in the electric bicycle market as a new national standard took full effect. Overseas, the sales of 13,686 units reflected a 32.4% decline. This remains a planned result of our ongoing channel structure optimization and disciplined inventory management. We're staying completely focused on our core objective, prioritizing healthy retail sell-through and long-term profitability over short-term shipment volume. Now let me walk through our China and overseas operation in more detail. In China, our first quarter sales volume reached 247,938 units, a 35.4% increase year-over-year. While this growth is robust, internal data reveals a …
