IPO Radar | Jiuan Intelligent Faces Challenges: Its subsidiary platform Easyview Cloud Experiences Compliance Issues and Financial Performance Worsens

Against the backdrop of rapid expansion in the smart home and Internet of Things sectors, Guangdong Ji’an Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Ji’an Intelligent”) is rushing to list on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), attempting to leverage the capital market to expand its business scale.

However, this company, whose core businesses are smart visual modules and IoT operation services, has repeatedly exposed critical risks during the IPO process. On February 3, the National Cybersecurity Reporting Center publicly disclosed serious privacy compliance issues with the Yishi Cloud App, which is the sole reliance of Ji’an Intelligent’s core business. Additionally, the company’s gross profit margin, R&D expense ratio, and accounts receivable turnover rate are significantly below industry averages, with multiple risks intertwined.

Declining accounts receivable and inventory turnover, divergence in operating cash flow

Ji’an Intelligent’s main business involves smart cameras and related IoT cloud platforms and operational services. During the reporting period, the company’s performance grew rapidly, with revenues of 484 million yuan in 2022, 645 million yuan in 2023, and 780 million yuan in 2024, with net profits attributable to shareholders of 34.03 million yuan, 85.95 million yuan, and 102 million yuan, respectively.

It is important to note that the quality of Ji’an Intelligent’s rapid growth is decreasing. During the reporting period, the company’s accounts receivable turnover rates were 5.68 times/year, 5.66 times/year, and 4.85 times/year, with 2025’s first half at 4.01 times/year, showing a continuous decline and remaining below the industry peer average.

Data source: Company announcements, Jiemian News Research Department

Accountant Zhang Xiaoyue told Jiemian News that the accounts receivable turnover rate is a key indicator of a company’s collection ability and revenue quality. A continuous decline indicates that the company’s collection cycle is lengthening, capital occupation is increasing, and bad debt risks are rising sharply. From the data, Ji’an Intelligent’s accounts receivable turnover rate dropped from 5.68 to 4.01, a nearly 30% decrease, raising suspicions that the company may be relaxing payment terms for distributors and customers or lowering cooperation thresholds to boost reported income.

For listed companies, a low and deteriorating accounts receivable turnover rate compared to peers is a major financial red flag for regulators. Extending credit periods to stimulate sales not only contradicts market-oriented business logic but also increases the risk of bad debt provisioning and cash flow disruptions. If downstream customers’ operations deteriorate and they are unable to pay, Ji’an Intelligent could face significant asset impairments, directly eroding profits and even triggering a liquidity crisis.

If accounts receivable is “funds trapped with customers,” then inventory backlog is “funds trapped in warehouses.” Ji’an Intelligent’s inventory turnover rate plummeted from 5.19 times/year in 2022 to 2.95 times/year in the first half of 2025, a decline of over 43%.

The change in book value of inventory is more intuitive: rising from 56.65 million yuan in 2022 to 149 million yuan in the first half of 2025, with the proportion of current assets increasing from 25.14% to 31.87%. This means that for every 3 yuan of current assets, 1 yuan is tied up in inventory.

An unwritten rule in the smart home hardware industry is that product iteration cycles usually do not exceed 18 months. The longer inventory remains unsold, the higher the risk of technological depreciation. Once new models are released, older versions may quickly become electronic waste, forcing companies to make large write-downs on inventory, directly eroding profits.

The simultaneous high levels of accounts receivable and inventory lead to a clear divergence between Ji’an Intelligent’s operating cash flow and net profit. While net profit grew year-over-year in 2024, the net cash flow from operating activities sharply declined, confirming the low quality of its performance.

Gross profit margin below industry average, R&D expense ratio lagging behind peers

In 2022, 2023, 2024, and the first half of 2025, Ji’an Intelligent’s main business gross profit margins were 24.58%, 32.02%, 29.55%, and 33.17%, respectively, always below the average of comparable companies by 5-10 percentage points.

Data source: Company announcements, Jiemian News Research Department

Ji’an Intelligent mainly produces smart camera modules and terminal devices. These products have relatively low technical barriers, and the market is flooded with many white-label manufacturers. The company lacks autonomous core algorithms and high-end chip design capabilities. Its product functions heavily overlap with low-end competitors, relying solely on price competition to gain market share.

At the same time, the company’s key components depend on external procurement. When upstream raw materials like storage chips increase in price, Ji’an Intelligent cannot pass these costs downstream, further squeezing profit margins.

Ji’an Intelligent’s R&D investment is also noteworthy. The smart home and IoT industry is a technology-intensive sector, where R&D investment is crucial for product iteration and core competitiveness. However, Ji’an Intelligent’s R&D spending lags sharply behind industry standards. During the reporting period, its R&D expense ratios were 7.78%, 9.04%, 5.92%, and 7.99%, while the average of comparable companies was 13.2%, 13.5%, 13.45%, and 15.28%. Comparatively, Ji’an Intelligent’s R&D ratio is less than half the industry average, at its lowest only 44% of peers’ average.

Data source: Company announcements, Jiemian News Research Department

Insufficient R&D investment results in weak technological innovation and severe product homogenization. Investment bankers Zhang Ming told Jiemian News that Ji’an Intelligent is aware of the importance of R&D. The prospectus states that the company plans to allocate 172 million yuan of raised funds to the “Embedded Intelligent Visual Product R&D Upgrade Project.” However, in the current era of AI large models accelerating smart home integration, whether this “last-minute catch-up” after listing can compensate for long-term technical debt remains to be seen.

Yishi Cloud compliance “explosive risk,” direct threat to core business

For Ji’an Intelligent, the greatest risk stems from “Yishi Cloud.”

On February 3, the National Cybersecurity Reporting Center, in conjunction with the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, issued a notice revealing that “Yishi Cloud” (version 4.7.5.6) has serious violations in collecting and using personal information: the privacy policy does not list the purpose, method, or scope of data collection for the app (including third-party entrustments and embedded plugins); when providing personal information to third parties, users are not informed nor is separate consent obtained, and data is not anonymized, directly violating core provisions of the Cybersecurity Law and the Personal Information Protection Law.

This notice appears to target a single app but hits directly at Ji’an Intelligent’s " Achilles’ heel."

The company’s core business is divided into two segments: smart home IoT module sales and IoT operation services. All stages of R&D, production, sales, and maintenance for these segments rely on the Yishi Cloud platform and Yishi Cloud App. The IoT operation services (data traffic packages, cloud storage, AI visual services) are entirely provided through the Yishi Cloud App to end users, representing a key profit source beyond hardware sales. The remote control, data transmission, and device management functions of the smart home IoT modules also depend on the Yishi Cloud platform’s technology support.

The compliance risk of Yishi Cloud directly equates to a survival risk for Ji’an Intelligent’s core business. According to regulations, if the app has such privacy violations, it will face rectification deadlines, fines, removal from app stores, and suspension of new user registration. In severe cases, service termination orders may be issued. If Yishi Cloud is delisted or ceases operation, Ji’an Intelligent’s IoT operation services will halt immediately, and hardware modules will lose core functions without cloud support, leading to massive customer loss, order declines, and revenue halts.

More concerning is that Ji’an Intelligent has not prepared alternative solutions for Yishi Cloud’s compliance risks, leaving its business in a fragile state of absolute platform dependence. During IPO review, compliance is a primary regulatory focus. The appearance of a national regulatory notice during the application process not only exposes serious deficiencies in the company’s compliance governance system but also raises significant doubts about its ongoing operational capability. For a company planning to go public, the risk of core business platform shutdown is akin to a “time bomb” on the IPO road.

From compliance risks to financial hazards, from business dependence to technological shortfalls, Ji’an Intelligent nearly hits all the “red lines” in IPO review.

To date, the company has not announced a comprehensive rectification plan for Yishi Cloud’s compliance issues nor provided a reasonable explanation for the deterioration of its financial indicators.