Recently, the Economic Observer learned from multiple departing employees that Aima Technology (603529.SH, hereinafter referred to as "Aima") has recently started layoffs, involving multiple departments such as branding, international, research and development, new retail, and Sporzman (a brand under Aima). These information sources also include employees who have been laid off in this round. One of the laid-off personnel stated that he was laid off at the end of November 2025, and after him, colleagues from different departments were also laid off one after another.

Previously, there were market reports that Emma was conducting personnel optimization in multiple departments, among which the high-end brand "Zero" and the International Business Unit became the hardest hit areas, with staff reductions exceeding 50%.

For the above information, on January 9th, the reporter called the Emma Investor Hotline as an investor. The other party stated that personnel adjustments during the development process of a company are very normal, but the company has not experienced a significant reduction in personnel. The international and zero international departments are still operating normally. In the future, Emma will continue to focus on its main business, which is the largest proportion of electric bicycle business. Emma has a relatively high market share in China and will also expand overseas, with production bases already established in Vietnam and Indonesia.

A former Emma employee told the Economic Observer that according to their understanding, there have been layoffs in both the international department and the Zero Motion Technology department. The former's main business is the export of electric assisted bicycles, including two wheeled, three wheeled, and commercial vehicles. The latter mainly engages in the ecological business around electric vehicles, including bicycles, electric suitcases, balance bikes, and electric assisted bicycles. The bicycle brand "ZEROAIMA" is one of the businesses managed by the Zero Motion department.

The Economic Observer noted that there are only three bicycles available in the ZEROAIMA flagship store on Tmall, with one selling only over ten units and the other two having zero sales. The flagship store belongs to Lingdong Intelligent Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., which was established in 2024 and its major shareholder is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aima.

Emma's performance is not poor. In fact, the revenue growth rate of Emma in the first three quarters of 2025 reached its highest level in the past three years, and the growth rate of net profit attributable to the parent company was also the same. In the first three quarters of 2025, Emma achieved a revenue of 21.09 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.78%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.907 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.78%. Revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders are both the best historical results in Emma's third quarter report.

Despite stable performance growth, from the perspective of the industry landscape, Emma still faces considerable pressure. Not only is she being left behind by the "big brother" Yadea, but there are also several new electric vehicle companies chasing after her with great momentum.

As an industry leader, Yadea's revenue in the first half of 2025 reached 19.19 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.11%, and its net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.649 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 59.50%, both of which exceeded Emma's growth rate in the same period.

The performance growth of new forces is even faster. In the first three quarters of 2025, the total revenue of Company 9 was 18.39 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 68.63%; The net profit attributable to the parent company reached 1.787 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 84.31%. Among them, the revenue of the core business intelligent electric two wheeler business increased significantly by 88.7% year-on-year.

The November 2025 online ranking of electric two wheelers released by AVC shows that No. 9 ranks first with a share of 26.9%, while Xiaoniu ranks second with a share of 25.6%. According to the sales statistics of electric two wheelers on OviCloud in the first half of 2025, No. 9 and Xiaoniu ranked first and second in the industry with year-on-year growth rates of 78.8% and 53.0%, respectively; In terms of market share, Yadea, Aima, and Tailing rank in the top three, while No. 9 ranks fourth with 7.3%.

Emma focuses on mid-range electric vehicle business in China, with high cost-effectiveness and fashionability being its prominent labels. Faced with market competition, Emma has not failed to try to break through growth bottlenecks. In the past few years, facing the trend of high-end and globalized industries, Emma has listed going global and high-end as strategic priorities, attempting to open up new growth curves.

Emma sounded the horn of going global as early as 2015, when she opened her first European flagship store in Switzerland. Going global was elevated to a strategic height in 2021, when Emma established its international business unit, with Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Vietnam) as the core breakthrough market and Europe and America as the focus for expanding into high-end markets. In 2023, Emma's Vietnam factory will officially start construction; In 2024, the Emma Indonesia factory will be officially put into operation.

In June 2025, Emma revealed that it had established over a hundred offline stores in Indonesia; In the Vietnamese market, we have established cooperative relationships with multiple distributors.

However, the performance of Emma International's business has not improved, and its international business revenue has been hovering around 1% for a long time. In the first half of 2025, international business even experienced a decline, with overseas revenue reaching 90.3655 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 24.99%, accounting for only 0.69% of total revenue, further shrinking from the previous level of around 1%.

The exploration of high-end tracks also faces challenges.

Emma will launch a new high-end electric motorcycle brand, Zero Ji, in October 2025, targeting urban young people aged 25-35 and designing three product series: X, S, and C. At that time, Lingji released its first model "X7", and the brand had revealed that the model was expected to be officially launched and delivered in the first quarter of 2026. In addition, Lingji plans to open the first batch of delivery experience centers in 50 core cities across the country, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, in the first half of 2026.

At present, the official selling price and delivery time of the Zero X7 model have not been announced on the Zero X7 official mini program. The Economic Observer searched for "zero experience centers" in the above-mentioned major cities on Dianping and found "none". There is no corresponding address displayed on the map software.

For Emma, conquering the high-end market means continuously investing in new audiences, markets, and channels. Unlike its previous focus on the mass market, Emma needs to re understand the needs and preferences of high-end consumer groups, and promote targeted research and development of new technologies and products. In the high-end market, in addition to the "containment" of No. 9 and Xiaoniu, the top "big brother" Yadi is also actively investing, launching the Guanneng series to conquer the 10000 yuan market, and also launching the VFLY high terminal brand.

In addition, Emma also needs to face the policy pressure of the new national standard. According to regulations, starting from December 1, 2025, the market will completely ban the sale of old national standard electric bicycles, and products on sale must comply with the new version of the "Safety Technical Specifications for Electric Bicycles" (GB 17761-2024). The new national standard proposes higher standards in areas such as maximum speed limit, use of flame-retardant materials, installation of Beidou positioning system, and tamper proof design. This means that all enterprises need to invest funds in production line renovation and product upgrades to meet compliance requirements, and the industry has entered a period of "shifting and adjusting".