Peter Cirino
Thank you, Ziyu, and good day to everyone. I'll start with our growing customer base, where Ziyu mentioned, we secured a milestone project win with the Volkswagen Group during the quarter.
This project will deploy our Antora 1,000 computing platform and ECARX cloud peak integrated with Google Automotive Services in multiple vehicles through Volkswagen's Global entry infotainment Initiative, which is set to launch across EMEA and the Americas towards the end of this decade.
We also won three new design wins from our existing customers. With two deploying [Argolina] computing platforms and one deploying [Macau] On the product front, we had several exciting new vehicles launched this quarter.
Following the strong launch in China of the Geely Galaxy E5 last August, an overseas version known as the Geely Galaxy EX5 entered startup production during the quarter and began deliveries in early 2025. The EX5 will be the first vehicle overseas to deploy the Antora 1,000 competing platform demonstrating our technological strengths and ability to deliver this solution for both the PRC and international markets.
We cumulatively shipped approximately 500,000 Antoras series units by the end of last year, with shipments expected to surpass 1 million in 2025. This provides automakers with a cost-effective way to integrate digital cockpit and driving capabilities into a single board using the Antora 1,000, which will be deployed as Geely's mainstream entry level solution on future models.
The Hongqi Tiangong 5 started production late last year and was launched in January 2025, deploying the first intelligent cockpit jointly developed under our strategic partnership with FAW. Powered by the Antora 1,000 pro, and integrated with a customized Hongqi FAWOS built on top of the ECARX Cloudpeak and AutoGPT, the Tiangong 5 will set new industry benchmarks with an immersive and AI-driven intelligent cockpit experience.
A similar solution will be deployed on another hongqi model, which is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2025. We are also working on an ADAS solution for 5 hongqi vehicles with startup production scheduled for the thirrd quarter, further deepening our relationship.
We continue to drive innovation in other areas as well, ensuring that our automaker partners have access to cutting edge solutions. Our cloud Peak hypervisor, a core component of the Cloudpeak software stack, received ISO 26262 ASIL-D certification in January.
The highest level of certification and the reflection of our focus on functional safety throughout the product life cycle. Cloudpeak was integrated into the Makalu computing platform and deployed on the Lynk & Co Z10 STARBUFF, which was launched in November of last year.
This customized eSports version of the Z10 allows users to play AAA games on the go with an immersive gaming experience. Momentum for the Skyland Pro ADAS solution is building as automakers are increasingly seeking cost effective solutions that they can rapidly bring the market.
Skyland Pro has been integrated into Geely G-Pilot unified intelligent driving system powering the recently launched Galaxy E8 all-electric sedan. The solution can be easily replicated and scaled across various brands and models, offering users a unique driving experience with advanced features such as automatic parking, assistance, and highway NOA.
The Skyland Pro already powers vehicles, including the Lynk & Co 08, and Lynk & Co 07 launched in 2023. The 08 model received a high CN cap rating and remains in strong demand. With the battleground for automakers to differentiate themselves, now expanding the ADAS and vehicle intelligence, intelligent driving solutions will be crucial to drive the long-term sustainable development of our business and the global automotive industry.
With a clear roadmap for future ADAS solutions, we are already capitalize on this opportunity and will continue to drive innovation going forward. Our robust intellectual property portfolio keeps growing, with 692 registered patents and 723 patent pending applications globally as of December 31, 2024.
To demonstrate our robust portfolio of technologies, we attended numerous industry events during the quarter. In November, we showcased the Skyland Pro ADAS solution at AutoSens China, demonstrating how it can empower automakers with high performance, cost-effective, intelligent driving solutions.
That same month, we also represented the automotive sector at the Saudi Arabia National Quality Conference, where we received the SASO Award for contributions to generative AI quality assurance, reflecting the impact that AutoGPT is having on the industry.
We carried this momentum into 2025 at CES in January, where one of the dominant themes was AI. Interest in automotive applications of AI was extremely high this year, making AutoGPT a real point of interest. Over four days at CES, our management team packed in more than 50 meetings, including 17 with automakers from across the world.
We also showcase the power and versatility of our solutions at our booth, including the Galena, Antora, and Makalu platforms. Solutions that all have been validated and deployed in vehicles currently in production, along with our ADAS technologies.
A key point of our messaging conversations was the power of AutoGPT, specifically its core AutoAgent, AutoFlow, AutoScene, and AutoECO capabilities built on top of several of the world's leading LLMs to enhance the in-vehicle experience. Automakers and ecosystem partners were captivated by the AutoAgents adaptability to unique driver preferences. AutoScene's monitoring of in-vehicle behavior. AutoFlows interaction with mobile apps.
And AutoECOs seamless connectivity within vehicle applications across devices, creating a comprehensive range of AI enhanced solutions. Our presentation at CES helped us set the agenda for the year to come, with a focus on expanding our global business by empowering automakers with cost and power efficient high-quality solutions.
I'd like to end with a quick update on our (inaudible) smart facility, and our strategy to integrate manufacturing and supply chain processes. Production continues to ramp up, with more than 60,000 Antora units produced in December alone, and further capacity expansions planned throughout this year.
In conclusion, 2024 was a remarkable year for us, and I remain highly optimistic that this will continue into 2025, especially as we lean into technological innovation and continue to diversify our customer base globally.
I will now turn the call over to Phil, who will go through our financial results.
Phil Zhou
Thank you, Peter, and hello, everyone. We closed out the year with a strong growth momentum despite intense market competition. Heating break even at the EBITDA level during the fourth quarter. Total revenue for the quarter was RMB1.9 billion and increase of 4% year over year and 36% sequentially.
Sales of goods revenue was RMB1.5 billion, up 16% year over year, driven by robust demand for our computing platforms, especially the Antora series and Makalu, which accounted for approximately 29% of sales of goods revenue.
Software license revenue came in at RMB90 million, a decrease of 3% year over year, and an increase of 7% sequentially. The year-over-year decrease was due to a decrease in the volume of legacy project software sales. Well, the sequential increase was driven by the ramp up of ECARX's operating system in line with the increase in shipments of the Antora platform.
Service revenue was RMB326 million, a decrease of 31% year-over-year, and a substantial increase of [102%] sequentially. Primarily impacted by engineering planning schedules and the timing of a booking design and development contracts revenue.
Gross profit for the quarter was RMB411 million, down 4% year over year, resulting in a gross margin of 21.2%. Total cost of around the increase to 6% year over year during the quarter, mainly driven by an increase in sales volumes for digital copits.
The decrease in the gross margin was primarily the result of our pricing strategy to deepen penetration and drive computing hardware growth as well as a shift in the overall revenue mix compared to previous quarters.
As the industry-wide, the pricing pressure for automakers have deepened, we expect margins on hardware products to remain challenging over the mid term. To address this challenge, we will focus on optimizing product costs through economics of scale. Our supply chain and the manufacturing strategy and improving overall operational efficiency.
Furthermore, we will continue to strike a careful balance between top line growth, profitability, and the capital investment. Operating expenses during the quarter decreases 32% year over year, primarily driven by the continuous expansion of our global operations and R&D efficiency improvements as well as synergies created by reallocation and integration of R&D resources.
Adjusted EBITDA gain were RMB74 million during the quarter, a significant improvement compared to a loss of RMB236 million on the during the same period last year, primarily attributable to the decrease in total operating expenses as well as schemes from the partial sales of an equity investment.
Last per share was RMB0.11 compared to the same period last year, RMB0.89. We closed out the year with a robust performance with a full year total revenue of RMB5.6 billion, up 18% year over year. Gross profits of RMB1.2 billion, down 9% year over year, and the gross margins of 20.8%. During the year, we further improve operating and R&D efficiency by consolidating and relocating resources and prioritizing investments in our international business and R&D expansion.
Full operating expenses decreased to 7% year over year with an adjusted EBITDA loss of RMB592 million and improvement of [RMB119 million] from last year. Moving on to our balance sheet, as of the end of the year, we had RMB367 million of cash and the restricted cash.
As we continue to optimize working capital and enhance profitability, we are proactively exploring options for a capital raise, including equity or debt financing to support our strategic objectives. As part of this effort, we recently filed an F3 registration statement allowing us to rapidly capitalize on favorable market conditions as they arise.
Looking forward, we will further improve operating expenses and the product costs with a particular focus on procurement, supply chain, and the manufacturing strategy and efficiency. We will continue to drive growth and expand the addressable market for our solutions by penetrating deeper into the Geely and the Geely ecosystems and growing our global automaker customer base further.
For product offerings, we will continue to invest in R&D to capitalize on mid to long-term growth opportunities. Additionally, we will accelerate the buildout of two closed loop systems, one for China and then the other for global markets. Each spanning the entire process from R&D to delivery.
In summary, we will focus on the unique value proposition we offered to automakers, further diversify our global customer base, proactively mitigate the impact of an increasingly challenging geopolitical environment and improve our cost structure to ensure the long term sustainability of our business model and the financial performance.
That concludes our prepared remarks today. I would now like to handle the call back to the operator to begin the Q&A session.
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions)
[Danny Wren] CICC.
Danny Wren
Hi. Good evening, everyone. This is Danny from CICC Auto Team. Congratulations on your strong results last year, and I have three quick questions to check with you. The first one is, could you share the company's global production capacity layout, and how you expect to pace the implementation of global orders in the coming years?
The second one is, what's your current plan for ADAS or AD products? Which clients are you working with? And where do you see growth opportunities in your collaboration with Geely? The last one is, what's your overall strategic roadmap and the development goals for over the next three to five years. That's all my questions.
Peter Cirino
Hi Danny, this is Peter. I'll take your first question. We just talk a little bit about our manufacturing strategy. 2024 was a big milestone year for us in terms of manufacturing because we ramped up our capabilities in China quite extensively.
We, if you remember, we, took the control of a joint venture we had established quite early in ECARX's life and also opened our new [Fuyon] facility. We're today very close to that site. We're holding a big supplier day.
So the Fuyan facility continues to ramp up very aggressively to serve our needs in China and will continue to be our premier site where we're investing heavily in technology there to have a leading manufacturing facility in the China region.
Globally, as we expand -- as we mentioned earlier in our remarks, we had a big milestone win with Volkswagen and as we continue to expand with opportunities in South America, India, and in Europe, I would expect that we would probably use some EMS or contract manufacturing partners that will help us expand our production capacity while we're continuing to expand engineering services or engineering capabilities to serve the global OEMs.
So I think we'll use very similar strategy that we utilized in China as we continue our growth over the last seven years that we have started with some partnership relationships, and then we'll continue to expand as it makes sense as we grow our business.
Ziyu Shen
Okay. So. Yeah, okay, so this Ziyu speaking. So, I will take the second question about the ADAS. We have already made a Skyline Pro product operating on Lynk & Co 08 and 07, last year. Yeah, I think two years ago, yeah.
So all that's the 10 camera solution and with five radar and also can support Huawei NOP function. Also, we are following the urban feature as well. And this part already be a part of the GD ADAS road map they just announced. Also we are keep working on these platforms, Skyline Pro and Skyline.
Also, we just announced 81,000 SOC with signing company together. That is a very high performance AI computing SOC platform from signing ICD design company we invested.
So very similar like (inaudible) 1,000 from Antora platform we for digitalism. This one we will give ADAS computer unit for very high performance feature on this platform. We are starting investment on development and we have make production next two years, this ongoing still. Also, I think we are investing the ADAS this roadmap to stress our portfolio, and to earn more growth next three years. That's a lot of expectation here.
Danny Wren
Okay. Thank you. It's very clear. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Tony Shen, SPDBI.
Tony Shen
Dear management, this is, Tony from SPDB International. First of all, congratulations on the EBITDA event in the first quarter of 2024. This is perfect. And so I've got two questions here. The first question is about, the guidance or the outlook of 2025.
Can the management sales -- share some color or guidance for revenue gross margin, and also the breakeven point of 2025? This is my first question. And the second question may be also related to the ADAS penetration rate increasing significantly, especially powered by BYD in the -- in February this year. How do we see the opportunities for ECARX, for ECARX (inaudible) opportunity and the customers demand. And for both the cockpit and the driving solutions. These are my two questions. Thank you.
Ziyu Shen
Hello. Hi. Ziyu is speaking. Okay. So thank you for questions. The first question, I think the [monster] is very clear, I think in 2025, we are very, very focused on breakeven. That's very main priority for us.
So, of course, we still will have the growth for revenue, but that will be the second priority for from the breakeven. So the break is top priority for us because we believe the health of the cash flow and the finance and balance sheet is the most important for the company, the global journey because we already win the global OEM and we have to go very health finance balance sheet to support our global expansion. So that's why breakeven is my main priority for the company. Well answer your first question. Okay.
And second question about the ADAS opportunity and also did you copy the opportunity even, yeah, we already know the BYD announcement. So we believe that ADAS growth is very significant in China market and most of OEM is following the journey BYD is doing.
So that's why I think it's a good opportunity, I just answer the question to CICC before that. We invest the Skyland and Skyland pro already. Also, we are fast moving with the signing chipset SOC 81,000. Also, we will go on NVIDIA platform as well for soy.
So that's why I think ADAS portfolio will be very important to be part of the ECARX that's three year growth. So that's why we believe ADAS feature and ADAS software development will be very key for the company, and we will continue to invest in this area.
Tony Shen
Okay. Perfect. That is very clear. May I have a quick follow up? Can we have any color on the gross margin maybe for 2025, especially how do you see the price trend related to gross margincy? Okay, this is my last question.
Phil Zhou
Thank you. Okay (inaudible) . I'm happy to address your question. So regarding the marching performance, as I can see that in Q4 last year, we just recovered our, gross margin performance back to 20% and above. And that reflects our ability to manage the portfolio selling.
So in Q4, we sold our balanced software and the services at the same time, we also drove a very effective cost on activities. So that's why in the end, we are able to recover the margin back to 20 plus. So coming, we're moving into 2025, this strategy will continue, for sure, we could see the headwinds ahead, regarding the pricing erosion, pricing pressure, but at the same time, the company is ready to drive the upstream, supply chain management.
So we will keep optimizing cost and as well as the scale -- economics of scale. So, at the same time, right, back to you then add some to the first question regarding our break even, right, our break even, the part to break even in '25 is good on the data-driven strategy, all right, and with the measurable progress and we focus on multi-financial dimensions as well, right?
First of all, we go, for sure, we will accelerate the top line growth with the volume scaling. You may have observe that our and (inaudible) rate and the rate keep increasing. Last year, we shipping in total, nearly 500,000 units in our customers at the same time, right, we perceive such kind of mix will keep climbing, which will definitely contributed to our land growth as well as our maring performance.
Second, we will drive the operational efficiency improvement as well. So, we already, systematically reduced our (inaudible) versus revenue ratio, from, 20% to 53% to 34% in '24 and in '25, we, foresee the percentage will further optimize it to 20%-plus and which is really helpful for our breakeven achievement.
And yeah, as I mentioned earlier, the effective cost the structure optimization that will help us to achieve that goal as well. So hopefully I can address the question and by adding more (inaudible)
Tony Shen
Okay. Perfect. Thank you for -- management.
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions)
Jenny Wang, UBS.
Jenny Wang
Hi, this is Jenny Wang from UBS Auto Team. Congratulations on the breakeven EBITDA, and thanks for taking my question. I have two questions. First, could you please provide a revenue breakdown by clients for 2024 and maybe share us your outlook for your current needs for the next 5 to 10 years?
And the second question is that as the largest smart cockpit supplier for Geely brands, do you expect ECARX to benefit from Geely supply chain consolidation and increase the share at GD brands further? Where was the selling of your share at Geely?
Peter Cirino
Okay, Jenny, maybe I'll take your questions. I think as we look across, our customer base as the US highlighted many times continuing to diversify our revenue from additional customers is very critical for our strategic path forward, and we are very selective as we do that in 2020 -- 2024 at the end of the year, we launched the two hongi models, but that will happen, I think between December and January.
And then, as we go through 2025, we'll see additional launches with Hongqi and with FAW as we continue to expand our relationship and deepening -- deepen our partnership with them. Additionally we'll certainly see some expansion of our products that will [hong] you as well, beyond the digital cockpit, which is where we we've started that relationship, we're continuing to focus.
In China on selective expansion as we see, customers that align with our winning strategy we're very excited to engage with them and develop similar relationships that we have with our existing customers. From a global perspective, as we mentioned, the activity with Volkswagen is certainly a very important milestone for the company. That product will launch, as we mentioned a few years from now, which is the normal development cycle in the international market.
And we're already engaged on already a number of mature RFQs, that we would expect to be able to continue to gain traction in the global market and capitalize on the capabilities that we've built up our largest vehicle in the global market that we launched was the EX 30, and we're continue to expand our relationship with global cars.
And then lastly you talked about Geely. I mean we've definitely seen growth with the Geely brands. The Antora platform is a key element of Geely's current architecture, and we'll continue to deploy across additional models as we go through the next few design cycles that Ziyu, I believe had mentioned earlier around the growth of the Antora shipments expected in 2025, and beyond, so we expect that product continues to gain good share throughout the market and deliver a very fantastic user experience to the consumers of the vehicle.
So we're quite excited about the partnership that we have built with the GD brands and we expect to continue to build off that both in developing [hero] products like our Antora series as well as deepening our relationship with them.
Phil Zhou
Yeah, and regarding the revenue mix right from different customer types and, as Peter mentioned, in '25, we will massively support the FAW Hongqi, there are multi programs to launch. At the same time, starting from 2026, Hongqi -- FAW Hongqi volume will climb up.
And we're moving to the '27 (inaudible) time frame, the Volkswagen business, we will start to do the massive supply as well. So that's in the end, by 2017, 28 time frame, the run the make business smith from GD and the non-Gli will eventually achieve a 50% versus 50%, that is our goal. And we are on the right trajectory to achieve that.
Jenny Wang
Thank you so much. That's all for me.
Peter Cirino
Okay. Thanks, Jenny.
Operator
Thank you. [Wei Huang] Deutsche Bank.
Wei Huang
Hi, thanks for taking my question. Congratulations on the very strong set of results. I have three quick questions. The first one is, can you maybe give us the duly share of your total revenue in 2024? The second is, the Lynk & Co brand is a significant customer for ECARX, and do we see any impact on our business with them given their merger into Zeeker?
And the third is the GD recently announced the Galaxy E8, with the Qualcomm 8295 chip is just using our (inaudible) computing platform? Thank you.
Phil Zhou
Thank you. I'm sorry, the first question is regarding the Geely revenue contribution to 2024 performance, right?
Wei Huang
Yes.
Phil Zhou
Okay. So, in 2024, I would say that a majority of revenues still came from Geely, but we significantly shift our focus to non-GD expansion. So far, nearly 80% of the revenue, still came from GD related to the ecosystem business, and 20% is from non-GD business. So that is the a general, answer, general summary about our revenue performance.
Ziyu Shen
Yeah, that's in 2024. And also you got information from the public. We just launched the FAW vehicle and also 2025, we will have the significant revenue from FAW. We strengthen the GD revenue. Also, we just win the Volkswagen Global deal in 2027. So that's why we have super confidence in coming three years we will strongly stress the GD revenue in the company.
Okay. The first question is okay.
Wei Huang
Yes, that is very clear. Thank you.
Ziyu Shen
Okay. So the second question about Lynk & Co and the vile, right? So I think we don't have too much impact on that because we are still very strong [Teir 1] supplier for Lynk & Co, the current demand portfolio. Actually, everybody know everybody know, as so Lynk & Co 08 and 07 successful, we contribute to Antora platform and with lying oral software together in Lynk & Co car.
Also, we are keep working with them very closely and also every end user very, very enjoy the experience from liar in the system. So that's why I think in the near future, in the coming years, we're still very important partner with the [Eagle] brand. There's no doubt about that, I think.
And also you mentioned the Galaxy E8, right. So Galaxy E8, I think we still using the (inaudible) We are a software partner with GD for the soft the (inaudible) adaption. But this hardware A295 is not from us. That's from other supplier. But in that E8 also we provide a Skyland, ADAS system directly to E8, and also we providing the full feature for including Huawei, NOP feature on the Galaxy E8. Yeah.
Wei Huang
Understood. That is very clear. That's all from me. Thank you.
Ziyu Shen
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time, so I'll hand the call back to COO, Peter for closing remarks.
Peter Cirino
Okay, well, first of all, I just wanted to thank all the members who joined the call. We appreciate the questions. ECARX really had a milestone quarter in, and a great end of the year of 2024, achieving positive EBITDA was a big effort that the organization was extremely focused on, as the -- as you mentioned we're, continue to focus on repeating those results throughout full-year 2025.
We had a robust launch pipeline that you -- that we discussed, as we continue to deepen our relationship with new customers such as FAW and our announcement for Volvo cars, or excuse me for Volkswagen was a big impact for the organization that we're excited to continue to deepen our global relationships with key customers. So thank you everyone for the call today, and appreciate everyone's engagement.
