Ninebot's Orion 5Z Has Quality Issues, 3C Certification Revoked

TapTechNews August 13th news, on July 26th, the State Administration for Market Regulation released the Circular on the Results of the Special National Supervision and Random Inspection of the Quality of Electric Bicycles in the First Half of 2024 (hereinafter referred to as the Circular), showing that the Orion electric bicycle TDR005Z (hereinafter referred to as Orion 5Z) produced by Ninebot Technology Co., Ltd. was randomly inspected in a store in Shenzhen and found to have unqualified problems, including unqualified items such as identification and warning words, the overall vehicle weight, and the main circuit protection in the charging state.

The official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that the 3C certification number of Orion 5Z is 2023011119574521, the certification date is January 2, 2024, and the expiration date is September 24, 2028.

ffected by the Circular, the China Compulsory Product Certification (hereinafter referred to as 3C Certification) of Orion 5Z was revoked on the same day of July 26th. On August 1st, Beijing released the Deleted Beijing Electric Bicycle Product Catalog (Batch 42), showing that Orion 5Z was deleted because of existence of major illegal and non-compliant behaviors.

TapTechNews noticed that the Orion 5Z that was found to have unqualified problems this time is one of the star products of Ninebot. Orion 5Z was launched last October, and its official name at that time was Ninebot Orion Dz110P, with a retail price starting from 10,499 yuan, and more than 6,400 units were pre-sold during Double Eleven.

According to the report of Caijing.com, the revocation of 3C certification has a huge impact on product sales. Weng Zengbin, the president of the Wuhan Electric Vehicle Association, said that if the 3C certification of electric bicycles is revoked, the vehicles will not be able to be registered in the whole country, and if they cannot be registered, they will face not being able to be on the road.

Ninebot responded that the one randomly inspected by the market supervision department in Guangdong region is a modified vehicle, but did not explain the sold situation of Orion 5Z across the country, whether there are potential safety hazards in the detected problems, and whether a recall will be initiated.

The financial report of Ninebot shows that the company achieved operating income of 6.666 billion yuan in the first half of 2024, an increase of 52.20% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to the parent was 596 million yuan, an increase of 167.82% year-on-year; and the basic earnings per share was 8.34 yuan.

Ninebot currently has products such as electric balance scooters, electric skateboards, electric two-wheelers, all-terrain vehicles, service robots, E-bikes, etc., and is mainly engaged in the research and development, production, sales and service of intelligent short-distance transportation and service robot products.

In the first half of 2024, the sales volume of Ninebot's self-owned brand retail scooters was 518,100 units, and the income was 1.031 billion yuan; the sales volume of electric two-wheelers was 1.2 million units (1.1984 million units in the Chinese region), and the income was 3.383 billion yuan; the sales volume of all-terrain vehicles was 12,100 units, and the income was 507 million yuan; and the income of the mowing robot was 449 million yuan.