New stock news | Industry leader Easy Control Intelligent Driving (07687) is about to be listed, and the value realization of unmanned driving in mining areas has crossed a "watershed"

Just like the new energy vehicles in 2021, the unmanned driving industry in mining areas is also crossing its own value realization "watershed". Driven by safety and economic factors, unmanned driving has become the core necessity path for intelligent upgrading in mining areas, and the concept of "safe with fewer people, and safe with no people" is moving from slogan to reality. According to Soochow data, by the end of 2025, the number of unmanned driving mining trucks in operation in the country has exceeded 4,000, a growth of over 45 times in the past five years. The sales penetration rate has also increased from 1.10% in 2021 to 16.10% in 2025. With the industry's commercialization reaching a turning point, unmanned driving companies in mining areas have started to go public. In 2026, Berlei Technology and Tango Intelligent Travel have successively submitted applications to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for listing. The industry leader in market share, Easy Control Intelligent Driving (07687), started its Hong Kong IPO journey in 2025 and began the subscription work on June 29, 2026, on the verge of listing. The capitalization actions of these related companies also signal the industry entering the "scale expansion period." As the penetration rate reaches a critical point, the industry enters a period of high-speed volume growth. As early as 2024, the unmanned driving industry in mining areas had reached the eve of large-scale commercialization landing. In that year, the China Coal Industry Association issued the "Report on the Development of Unmanned Driving Technology Application in Open-pit Coal Mines", predicting that by 2024, the number of unmanned driving mine trucks in open-pit coal mines would reach 2,500, an increase of over 120% from 1,131 in 2023. The large-scale growth led many to consider 2024 the first year of commercialization of unmanned driving in open-pit coal mines in China. The growth in numbers is just one aspect, the more core change lies in the penetration rate. Data shows that by December 2024, the penetration rate of unmanned mine trucks in new vehicles in Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation had already exceeded 10%, and in the following four years, it quickly captured nearly half of the passenger car market. The situation in the unmanned driving industry in mining areas by the end of 2024 was highly similar to this. "Referring to the S-curve penetration law of new energy vehicles, 10% is the core turning point for the industry to transition from the introduction period to rapid volume growth, and the industry officially crossed the critical point." said an industry insider. Subsequent developments in the unmanned driving industry in mining areas also confirmed this view. According to Soochow research report data, the sales penetration rate of unmanned mine trucks in China has increased from 1.10% in 2021 to 16.10% in 2025. Frost & Sullivan predicts that by 2030, the sales penetration rate of unmanned mine trucks will exceed 50%, and the penetration rate of existing stock is expected to exceed 40%. Taking Easy Control Intelligent Driving, the leading domestic unmanned driving company in mining areas about to go public, as an example, the speed of its large-scale expansion is dazzling. According to the data, by the end of 2024, the company had just over 1,000 operational vehicles, and by December 31, 2025, the company had deployed 2,580 active unmanned mine trucks, making it the largest provider of unmanned driving solutions in mining areas in China. In terms of market share, as of December 31, 2025, the company's unmanned driving solutions have been deployed in 19 out of 41 open-pit coal mines in China with an annual approved production capacity exceeding 10 million tons, and in seven out of 12 largest open-pit coal mines based on annual approved production capacity. Nine out of 11 mining projects with over 100 unmanned mine trucks in a single mine in China have deployed Easy Control Intelligent Driving solutions. Furthermore, by the end of 2025, the company had deployed over 500 unmanned driving mine trucks in a single mining area, making it the largest fleet of unmanned driving mine trucks in a single mining area in the world. In Australia, known as the world's "most rigorous testing ground" for mining, Easy Control Intelligent Driving has successfully completed the "unmanned mine truck safety officer leaving the vehicle" test, becoming the first and currently the only company in China to complete substantial on-site testing of unmanned mine trucks in Australia. According to company public information, there are currently six mine trucks undergoing unmanned driving modifications in the mine, and it is expected that they will push for the normalization of grouped operations of the fleet within the year, taking the lead in seizing the broad overseas market. Leading horizontally, unique business logic builds high barriers to profit cycles While the vertical growth momentum is fully unleashed and the growth curve is steeply rising, a horizontal comparison with the entire unmanned driving industry shows that unmanned driving in mining areas has already moved ahead of the technology validation cycle, leading the way into the stage of large-scale landing and replication, demonstrating unique commercial value in landing. It is generally believed that the core commercial logic of unmanned driving in mining areas lies in reducing manpower, increasing efficiency, and reducing safety losses, achieving profitability through saving operating costs and reducing losses from downtime accidents, and possessing the dual attributes of safety and economy. Soochow pointed out in a research report that unmanned driving in mining areas has characteristics such as fixed routes, rigid demands, clear customer payment entities, and measurable ROI, making it easier to establish a complete commercial cycle. At the same time, the mining-specific data and industry Know-how accumulated by the unmanned driving industry in mining areas have formed differentiated competitive barriers compared to other industries. Unlike urban unmanned driving scenes that have a large number of standardized road signs and markings, mine sites lack road signs, lane markings, and other traffic facilities, and the road conditions may change frequently due to mining activities. Mines are often rocky with windy and sandy conditions, which require more stringent seismic and dust-proof requirements for precision components. Extreme temperatures and shock impacts are also more severe compared to the operating environment of Robotaxis, requiring higher requirements for sensors and braking control for unmanned mine trucks. Taking the technical practice of Easy Control Intelligent Driving as an example, in the largest open-pit coal mine in China in terms of approved production capacity - the Southern Open-pit Coal Mine of Xinjiang Tianchi Energy, the company's unmanned driving solutions have successfully identified obstacles such as road edges, rut lines, and falling rocks with precision in extreme environments of dust and coal dust, and winter cold waves reaching as low as minus 39 degrees Celsius. This helps the mine become the first open-pit coal mine in China to fully implement unmanned driving in coal mining and stripping scenarios, achieving 7x24-hour unmanned production operation. In the Jiulong Copper Mine in Tibet, Easy Control Intelligent Driving successfully deployed unmanned driving trucks in the high-altitude area of 5,400 meters above sea level, where the oxygen content is 40% lower than at sea level, demonstrating higher continuous operation stability and safety than human drivers in the extreme oxygen-deficient environment. The outstanding performance of the solution in extreme environments has laid the foundation for the large-scale commercialization of Easy Control's unmanned driving, and the company itself has reached a decisive point in profitability. From 2023 to 2025, the company's total revenue grew from 271 million yuan to 1.435 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 130.2%. In 2024, the company's gross profit successfully turned around, reaching 74.71 million yuan, which doubled in 2025, reaching 145 million yuan. Of particular note is the structural shift in Easy Control Intelligent Driving's business model. Data shows that in 2025, the company's light-asset model, where it does not own the vehicles, accounted for 56.8% of the income, expanding from 113 million yuan in 2023 to 815 million yuan in 2025. The business model is shifting from heavy asset capacity contracting to high-margin technical services, completing the segmentation of the industry chain within the track. This profit path is undoubtedly shorter and clearer than that of most L4 players and has already achieved a truly closed-loop commercialization. According to Easy Control Intelligent Driving, the company has positioned itself as a technology service provider rather than a transportation operator. "In the future, we will focus more on technical services and define ourselves as 'AI drivers'. Customers buy cars, we provide the driving capability, and let this 'driver' grow from a novice to an expert," said Lin Qiao, Vice President of Easy Control Intelligent Driving. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, the market size of unmanned driving solutions in mining areas in China reached 3.8 billion yuan in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 171.4% from 2021 to 2025. In the global market, the double challenge of rising labor costs and increasing mining difficulties outside of China are becoming increasingly prominent. The market size of unmanned driving solutions in mining areas globally, based on revenue, is expected to increase from 1 billion US dollars in 2025 to 7.3 billion US dollars in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 47.4%. On this future race track with a high degree of certainty, a group of companies led by Easy Control Intelligent Driving are raising funds through Hong Kong stock market listing to accelerate their capture of the rapidly growing market for unmanned mining trucks. In the future, with Easy Control Intelligent Driving landing on the Hong Kong stock market, the unmanned mining driving industry will also have the opportunity for a reevaluation of its value in the capital market, becoming a testament to the era in which the intelligent upgrading of mining areas in China shifts from being "optional" to "necessary".