The intra-city unmanned delivery sector has reached a significant milestone. On the evening of July 13, MINIEYE (02431) officially announced the signing of a Strategic Cooperation Agreement for Unmanned Logistics Full-scenario Operations with Beijing Kuaiju Anyun Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to herein as DiDi Freight). The announcement indicated that the two parties have formally initiated a deep integration of L4-level unmanned logistics vehicles in the last-mile delivery field. The following day, MINIEYE, DiDi Freight, and the Foshan Chancheng Urban Construction Group completed a tripartite signing, marking the simultaneous implementation of Foshan's unmanned delivery industry layout.
The core logic of this partnership is clear and highly complementary. As the technology and capacity provider, MINIEYE supplies compliant, mass-produced L4 unmanned logistics vehicles, autonomous driving software/hardware systems, and full-cycle operation and maintenance support. DiDi Freight opens the traffic gateway and intelligent dispatch engine of its intra-city freight platform, integrating unmanned vehicles into a hybrid human-machine delivery network, thereby creating a closed-loop process from order placement and intelligent dispatching to fulfillment tracking and payment settlement. Together, they offer a comprehensive "Unmanned Delivery Integrated Solution" to various government bodies and commercial clients, establishing a commercial closed loop combining "autonomous delivery capacity" with "platform traffic."
Against the backdrop of long-standing structural challenges related to cost and efficiency in the intra-city freight industry, unmanned delivery is approaching a critical juncture for large-scale commercial validation. This collaboration not only provides MINIEYE with a stable source of orders and real-world scenario testing but also allows DiDi Freight to explore a new model of hybrid human-machine delivery capacity. This joint operation model is viewed as an important case study for observing whether the commercial value of last-mile delivery can be realized.
Launching a Trillion-Dollar Journey: Unmanned Capacity Driving a Cost Revolution
Intra-city freight is a massive yet low-margin business, with the industry long characterized by a "large market, low gross profit" profile. According to Frost & Sullivan data, China's intra-city freight market size exceeded one trillion yuan in 2024, yet the net profit margin for leading platforms has persistently hovered in the single digits. The cost structure is at the heart of the issue—last-mile pickup and delivery costs account for over 50% of the total cost per shipment and are rising rigidly. With China's postal and express delivery business volume projected to surpass 200 billion parcels in 2025, traditional labor-intensive methods are nearing their efficiency ceiling. Cost reduction and efficiency improvement have become the industry's most pressing common demand.
Unmanned delivery vehicles are seen by the market as a key solution to this cost dilemma. Calculations by Huatai Securities show that in last-mile express delivery scenarios, the cost per parcel for a 5m³ unmanned vehicle is approximately 0.067 yuan, compared to about 1 yuan for manual delivery on the same route—a stark economic difference. More critically, the marginal cost of unmanned vehicles decreases with scale, and efficiency gains from algorithm iterations offer long-term compounding effects. The cooperation between DiDi and MINIEYE is precisely based on this industrial logic. DiDi requires lower-cost, higher-certainty delivery capacity to optimize platform fulfillment efficiency, while MINIEYE needs real-world commercial scenarios to validate and iterate its unmanned logistics technology. Simultaneously, MINIEYE leverages DiDi's traffic gateway to embed its RaaS (Robotics-as-a-Service) delivery service into the daily operations of the intra-city freight system, transitioning from a one-time product delivery model to continuous capacity operation.
Technological Breakthrough as a Differentiator: The "Map-Free" Advantage
The transformation of intra-city freight is no longer a question of "if" but "who changes first and who changes better." However, for unmanned vehicles to truly integrate into the commercial operations of intra-city freight, a key technical question must be answered: How to achieve large-scale replication across complex urban road conditions with sufficiently low marginal costs and rapid deployment speeds? MINIEYE's "true map-free" technology provides a differentiated solution to this challenge.
Unlocking Commercialization with RaaS: Closing the Loop for Last-Mile Delivery
The core lever for MINIEYE to drive the intra-city freight cost revolution lies in its "true map-free" technological approach. This solution completely eliminates reliance on high-definition maps, relying solely on real-time vehicle sensor perception and online environmental understanding to dynamically construct local road semantics and drivable space onboard. This compresses deployment cycles from weeks to hours while avoiding the fixed costs associated with HD map collection, updates, and compliance maintenance.
This technological breakthrough removes a fundamental obstacle for the commercial implementation of the RaaS (Robovan-as-a-Service) delivery model. Leveraging the rapid deployment capability of map-free technology, the cooperation between MINIEYE and DiDi establishes a complete commercial closed loop across four dimensions: supply, traffic, operations, and revenue. On the supply side, MINIEYE provides compliant, mass-produced XiaoZhu series L4 unmanned logistics vehicles and full-cycle operational support. On the traffic side, DiDi opens order entry points via its app and mini-programs, using its intelligent dispatch engine to integrate unmanned vehicles into the intra-city freight network, ensuring stable order density. On the operations side, MINIEYE offers full vehicle warranty, regular OTA updates, offline maintenance, and remote safety operator oversight.
More crucially, this partnership is particularly significant for the structural upgrade of MINIEYE's profit model. Its revenue sources undergo a fundamental shift—no longer limited to one-time gains from vehicle sales but extending to obtaining recurring service income through capacity-sharing and operational support. Under the RaaS model, MINIEYE charges service fees per order, per mileage, or on-demand. Its revenue is directly linked to the delivery order volume on DiDi's platform, exhibiting platform-like financial characteristics such as high gross margins, strong customer stickiness, and high revenue predictability.
Building Competitive Moats Through Compounding Effects
The transition of the profit structure from "selling products" to "selling capacity" not only smooths revenue volatility but also opens up long-term revenue growth potential. As operational scale expands, MINIEYE is poised to capture a triple compounding effect. In terms of data compounding, real-world delivery scenarios continuously feed back into algorithm iteration; daily operational data from dozens of orders per vehicle enables continuous optimization of autonomous driving capabilities. Regarding customer compounding, the high stickiness of the RaaS model makes it difficult for customers to switch once integrated, allowing MINIEYE to expand to more platform clients beyond DiDi. For ecosystem compounding, the cross-city rapid replication capability enabled by the map-free solution, combined with the tripartite synergy of "technology + platform + government," is standardizing operational experience from individual cities into replicable solutions.
The long-term competitive barrier formed by this triple compounding effect is propelling MINIEYE from a one-time hardware sales revenue model towards a sustainable value growth curve driven by ecosystem operations.
Strategic Synergy: A Three-Pronged Flywheel to Elevate Valuation Logic
The strategic depth of the partnership between MINIEYE and DiDi extends far beyond a simple agreement. Their joint effort with the Foshan Chancheng Urban Construction Group forms an ecosystem strategy of "technology + platform + government" synergy, with each party leveraging its strengths. On the technology side, MINIEYE provides standardized L4 unmanned delivery capacity and full-cycle operations; the "true map-free" capability enables cross-city replication—evidenced by launching operations in five cities (Nantong, Zibo, Luoyang, Taiyuan, Zhangjiakou) within a month. On the platform side, DiDi ensures order density, with its traffic gateway and intelligent dispatch system continuously funneling stable last-mile delivery orders. On the government side, the involvement of the Foshan Chancheng Urban Construction Group effectively lowers entry barriers and mobilizes local infrastructure resources.
The synergy among the three creates a virtuous cycle: more city deployments → more operational data → continuous algorithm iteration → cost reduction → attraction of more platforms and clients → continuous scale expansion. The formation of this ecosystem synergy is driving a fundamental shift in the capital market's valuation logic for MINIEYE. Previously, unmanned vehicle manufacturers were often valued as hardware tech companies, with pricing anchored to sales volume and gross margin levels. When a company develops recurring service revenue and operational attributes, its valuation ceiling rises significantly. Referencing the valuation frameworks for SaaS and platform companies, recurring revenue commands significantly higher multiples than hardware sales.
Reassessing Business Models and Market Positioning
MINIEYE's RaaS model transforms its revenue structure from a singular product sales model to a diversified mix of "product + service + capacity sharing," exhibiting platform-like financial traits. As the proportion of recurring revenue gradually increases, the market is likely to reassess the company's commercial essence—a shift from a technology product company to a platform service provider, which will be the core driver for its medium-to-long-term value re-rating.
At the industry level, unmanned intra-city delivery vehicles have fully entered the stage of mass production and regular operation. The competitive landscape is also evolving from an early duopoly towards a multi-player contest. In this process, a new top-tier structure has emerged. While early movers have established leads through scale, MINIEYE has made a strong entry through its combination of "technological breakthrough + ecosystem binding + batch deployment," forming a highly competitive leading matrix within the unmanned logistics sector alongside other key players. This strategic cooperation with DiDi further solidifies MINIEYE's position within this leading group.
iResearch predicts that sales of unmanned intra-city delivery vehicles in China will reach 89,000 units by 2026, potentially approaching 1.5 million units by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate exceeding 75%. As road access policies continue to relax, hardware costs decline along the technology curve, and the RaaS business model proves viable, unmanned delivery is transitioning from tentative investment into a phase of certain growth.
For MINIEYE, which is among the first to successfully establish a closed loop of "map-free technology + RaaS operations + platform binding," this represents not just a valuation narrative but a fundamental leap in business model—from being a "tool supplier" to a "strategic partner." It is no longer merely a vendor providing tools to the industry but a core player deeply embedded in the delivery capacity operations, continuously sharing in the growth dividends of the ecosystem.
In summary, the transformation of delivery capacity in intra-city freight is at a critical inflection point moving from quantitative to qualitative change. MINIEYE, through its "true map-free" technological breakthrough and the construction of a RaaS commercial closed loop, has secured a differentiated position in this transformation. The strategic cooperation with DiDi is not merely a simple addition of technological solutions and platform traffic; it is a practical validation of the tripartite "technology + platform + government" ecosystem synergy—marking a new phase where unmanned logistics moves from "feasibility" to "profitability." As the replicability of the business model and economies of scale begin to manifest, the market's assessment of its value will likely transcend traditional hardware valuation frameworks, entering a new cycle driven by recurring service revenue and ecosystem synergy capabilities. For investors, this may signal that the time has come to reassess the value coordinates of this sector.
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