This article only represents the author's own views.
Niu Technologies (NIU.US) has had some rough years since the heady days of its Nasdaq listing in October 2018. In 2017, the company, whose name means “bull,” was China’s top seller of lithium-ion battery powered e-scooters, with 26% of the market by unit sales and 39.5% by value. It was third in Europe as well, with 11.1% of the market by unit sales. Its sales zoomed over the next few years, rising from 189,467 e-scooters in 2017 to over 1 million in 2021.
But the growth began to slow after that and slipped into reverse, even as expansion at its factory in the city of Changzhou boosted its annual capacity to 2 million scooters. In 2023, it was back to 710,000 in annual unit sales, down 15% from 2022, as the broader market for e-scooters fell, partly as a result of price increases for battery packs as lithium prices soared. Lithium prices began to retreat in the second half of 2023, but Niu was still forced to shutter 500 stores, reducing its network to 2,856 domestic outlets by the end of last year.