Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the 2023 fourth quarter and annual earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during this session, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Yinan Li. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Ladies and gentlemen, good evening and good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to our 2023 fourth quarter and annual results earnings call. I'm Li Yinan, the IR director of Kingsoft. I would like to start by reminding you that some information provided during the earnings call may include forward-looking statements, which may not be relied upon in the future for various reasons. These forward-looking statements are based on our information and information from other sources, which we believe to be reliable. Please refer to the other publicly disclosed documents for detailed discussion on risk factors, which may affect our business and operations. Additionally, in today's earnings call, the management will deliver prepared remarks in both Chinese and English. A third-party interpreter will provide consecutive interpretation into English.
During the Q&A session, we will accept questions in both English and Chinese, with alternating interpretation provided by the third-party interpreter. On-site translation is solely to facilitate communication during the conference call. In case of any discrepancies between the original remarks and the translation, the statements made by the management will prevail. Having said that, please allow me to introduce our management team who joined us today. Mr. Zou Tao, our Executive Director and CEO, and Miss Li Yi, our Acting CFO. Now, I'm turning the call to Mr. Zou.
[Foreign language] 大家好，2023年集团整体业务保持稳健增长。我们积极推进核心业务，为未来的可持续发展奠定坚实基础。金山办公集团围绕多屏、云、内容、协作、AI战略，持续投入AI和协作领域的研发，借助大模型的整合，不断为用户提供更好的办公体验。WPS AI于第四季度完成备案，并正式开启公测，进一步赋能智能办公新场景，培养用户AI办公习惯，为用户开启智能办公新体验，为后续推进商业化进程打下了良好基础。同时，在政企端，我们持续与头部客户探索WPS AI在政企办公场景落地可行方案，例如提供面向公文领域的AIGC的生成、个性化知识库检索、数据智能分析等服务，推动新一代办公软件加速迭代，实现新智生产力在千行百业办公场景的切实落地。网络游戏业务坚守精品策略，在深耕武侠游戏品类的同时，在新赛道的探索也有阶段性的进展。2023年，集团各业务线保持持续稳定的增长。本集团总收益人民币85.3亿元，同比增长12%。办公软件及服务业务保持稳健的经营态势。在国内个人及机构订阅业务增长的带动下，年收益人民币45.6亿元，同比增长17%。网络游戏及其他业务收益人民币39.8亿元，同比增长6%，主要由剑网三的强劲增长驱动。2023年，本集团营运溢利人民币22.3亿元，同比增长19%。以上成就是我们坚持技术立业，以用户为中心的战略的体现。
Hello, everyone. In the year 2023, the group's overall performance maintained solid growth despite challenges. We actively promoted our core business to lay a solid foundation for sustainable development in the future. Focusing on the strategy of multi-screen, cloud, content, collaboration, and AI, Kingsoft Office Group continued to invest in R&D of AI and collaboration, and strengthen the competitiveness of our product through technological innovation, product iteration, performance enhancement, and other initiatives. In terms of online games business, we adhere to the original intention of creating prime games and insisted on long-term operation.
... as developing wuxia games, we are also making incremental progress in exploring new game genres. In 2023, the group's business demonstrated a growth resilience, with a growth total revenue of RMB 8,534 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 12%. The office software and service business maintained solid operation, with annual revenue of RMB 4,557 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 17%, driven by the growth of domestic, individual, and institutional subscription businesses. Revenue from online games and other business amounted to RMB 3,977 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 6%, mainly driven by the strong growth of JX3 Online. Operating profit of the group amounted to RMB 2,227 million in 2023, increasing by 90% year-on-year.
These results reflect our efforts to adhere to the technology-driven businesses, continuously invest in product and technology, and adhere to user experience. Now, I'm going to turn the call to Ms. Li Yi.
Thank you. Good evening, and good morning, everyone. Kingsoft Office Group has released WPS AI, an intelligent office application powered by large language models, focusing on the development of three strategic directions: AI-generated content, Copilot, and insight. WPS AI officially launched public beta testing in the Chinese mainland in the fourth quarter, laying a solid foundation for further commercialization. We have also upgraded the WPS Office to improve user experience. In addition, we continue to improve the end-to-cloud integration experience and enhance user activity in the cloud. While adhering to long-term membership strategy, we have upgraded the membership benefits structure, launched the super membership system to meet the needs of different users through a flexible combination of benefits. For institutional customers, we have upgraded WPS 365 new productive forces in office to provide content creation, office collaboration, open ecosystem, and digital asset management capabilities.
We continue to promote the end-to-cloud integration and collaboration process, and focus on the business scenarios of government and premium customers of state-owned and private enterprises. We deepened product capabilities to serve industries such as finance, transportation, energy, publishing, healthcare, consumer retail, high-end manufacturing, and internet, incubated secure and efficient solutions that can be applied across the industry, and continue to replicate typical cases for widespread adoption. Meanwhile, we have been continuously collaborating with premium customers to explore feasible solutions for the implementation of WPS AI in government and enterprise office scenarios to advance its application in various industries and office settings. In the field of public cloud service, we encouraged customers to use cloud and collaboration applications, enabling them to manage their digital assets and expanded market reach with channel partners.
By highlighting the features of our products, we attracted enterprise customers and increased the user engagement and payment retention. We have closely monitored the localization industry policy changes and customer demand, and are taking the initiative to tap local government market in advance. Under the localization industry, starting from the replacement needs of the customers such as finance, energy, and operators, we promoted the adoption of the new license mode and deepened the cloud and collaboration office process. We put users first and officially shut down our domestic third-party advertising business in December 2023. In terms of overseas business, based on our solid foundation in the mobile sector, we continued to cultivate our user base on desktop platforms. Looking ahead, Kingsoft Office Group will continue to focus on AI and collaboration, further polishing the product, and provide high-quality AI collaborative office products and services to individual and institutional users.
In 2023, the online games business saw steady growth. The flagship game, JX3 Online, demonstrated resilience and strong mentality. It has been in operation for 14 years and achieved a record high in annual revenue. JX3 Online continued to iterate and release new expansion packs with upgraded graphics, providing players with more diverse and enriched gaming experience. World of Sword Origin was successfully launched in Vietnam and Chinese mainland, attracting dedicated players with its classic gameplay and aesthetic appeal, which also contributed to the global reach of traditional Chinese culture. The global release of the anime shooter game, Snowbreak: Containment Zone, expanded the user base of anime and overseas market. The sci-fi mech game, Mecha BREAK, made its debut at the Game Awards at the end of the year, gaining widespread attention from the international market for its art design and innovative game play, eagerly awaited by global players.
Looking forward to 2024, the release of JX3 Ultimate will offer players brand new experience across multiple platforms. We will continue to expand into new genres, refine sci-fi mech game, Mecha BREAK, and continuously optimize anime game, Snowbreak: Containment Zone. As for the financial results, I'm starting from Q4, use RMB as the currency. Revenue increased 9% year-on-year and 12% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 2,310 million. The revenue split was 56% for office software and services, and 44% for online games and others. Revenue from the office software and service business increased 80% year-on-year and 70% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 1,286 million. The increases were mainly due to the growth of both domestic individual office subscription business and institutional subscription business of Kingsoft Office group.
The growth of domestic individual office subscription business was mainly attributable to the increases in both the paying ratio and average revenue per paying user, resulting from enriched membership benefits and upgraded membership system. The growth of institutional subscription business mainly benefited from the increase in cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and digital transformation needs of government and enterprises, as well as our optimization of products and services to improve the intelligent office experience and accelerate our conversion. Revenue from the online games and other business kept flat year-on-year and increased 7% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 1,024 million. The quarter-over-quarter increase was primarily driven by the revenue contribution from World of Sword Origin, released in Chinese mainland in September, partially offset by decreased revenue from certain existing games. Cost of revenue increased 11% year-on-year and 8% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 414 million.
The increases were mainly due to higher server and bandwidth costs, along with the business expansion of Kingsoft Office Group. Gross profit increased 9% year-on-year and 30% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 1,896 million. Gross profit margin kept flat year-on-year and increased by one percentage point quarter-on-quarter to 82%. Research and development costs increased 4% year-on-year and 2% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 685 million. The increases were mainly due to increased headcount and personnel related expenses of Kingsoft Office Group, reflecting our continuous efforts to improve products and services. Selling and distribution expenses increased 30% year-on-year and decreased 40% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 377 million. The fluctuations mainly resulted from changes in promotion spending of online game business in corresponding quarters. Administrative expenses increased 5% year-on-year and decreased 9% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 171 million.
The quarter-on-quarter decrease was mainly due to decreased personal related expenses. Share-based compensation costs increased 28% year-on-year and 6% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 77 million. Operating profit before share-based compensation costs increased 70% year-on-year and 76% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 792 million. Net other gains for the fourth quarter of 2023 were RMB 80 million, compared with losses of RMB 42 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, and gains of RMB 80 million for the third quarter of 2023 respectively. Share of losses of associates were RMB 286 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with losses of RMB 256 million and RMB 307 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023 respectively.
Income tax expense decreased 13% year-on-year and increased 187% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 126 million. As a result of the reasons discussed above, profit attributable to owners of the parent was RMB 205 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with a profit of RMB 48 million and RMB 28 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023 respectively.
Profit attributable to owners of the parent, excluding share-based compensation costs, was RMB 257 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with profit of RMB 83 million and RMB 69 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023 respectively. The net profit margin, excluding share-based compensation cost, was 11%, 4%, and 3% for this quarter, the fourth quarter of 2022, and the third quarter of 2023 respectively. Now, on year 2023, revenue increased 12% year-over-year to RMB 8,734 million. Office s oftware and services made up 53%, increased to 70% year-over-year to RMB 4,557 million. Online games and others made up 47% and increased 6% year-over-year to RMB 3,977 million.
Gross profit margin increased by 1 percentage point year-on-year to 82%. Operating profit before share-based compensation costs increased 19% year-on-year to RMB 2,541 million. Profit to owners of the parent was RMB 483 million for the year of 2023, compared with a loss of RMB 6,049 million for the last year. The group had a strong cash position towards the end of 2023. As at 31 December 2023, the group had cash resources of RMB 24 billion. Net cash generated from operating activities was RMB 3,489 million and RMB 2,574 million for the year ended 31 December 2023, and 31 December 2022 respectively.
Capital expenditure was RMB 474 million and RMB 509 million for the years ending December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. In 2023, our core business have steadily advanced. In 2024, Kingsoft Office Group will firmly seize the opportunities of digital economic development and continuously explore the business opportunities of digital office services. We will continue to carry out product innovation and user experience optimization around multi-screen, cloud content collaboration AI, to continuously improve service quality and provide individual and institutional users with more efficient and intelligent office solutions. At the same time, we will deepen our presence in the field of Wuxia games, and make progress in the new years of sci-fi mech games, bring players all new gaming experience.
Looking ahead, we will continue to leverage technology, embrace AI, and seize new opportunities to pursue high quality and sustainable development. Thank you all. With that, let's go to the Q&A session. Hi, operator, we are ready for the Q&A session.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. We will take our first question. Your first question comes from the line of Zeldin Zhang from CICC. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
[Foreign language] Hey, Zou Zong, Li Zong, Yinan Zong, 晚上好，感谢接受我的提问，好，那我这边有两个问题想请教一下，第一个是关于我们的游戏业务，那我看到了去年我们的这个旗舰端游剑网三，其实一直是对的业绩，那想请管理层分享一下，就是今年开年以来，我们，这款旗舰端游的数据持续性如何？那么基于目前的一个新游戏的pipeline，管理层对于全年游戏业务的一个增长目标是如何展望的？然后我的第二个问题，是公司目前的这个账上现金非常的充沛，那想请管理层分享一下今年对于现金使用的一个规划，特别是在这个股东回报层面的一个考虑。那我快速地翻译一下我的问题。So, thanks management for taking my questions.
And my first question is on the gaming business. So JX3 Online delivered a strong record in 2023. So what is your expectation for its performance this year? And could you please share with us your latest full year guidance for the gaming segment? And secondly, could you please give some color on your plans of cash usage and shareholder returns for 2024? Thank you.
[Foreign language] 好，我先回答第一个啊，第二个我回答一部分。游戏总体呢，就是这个在剑网三啊，就是总体来讲在Q1呢，就是还是保持一个稳定。但是大家都知道，就是整个项目组，精力啊，目前都是在准备这个剑网三无界的上市。所以呢，整个在Q1呢，我们没有整个游戏呢，没有特别多的，应该说这个新内容的刺激吧，就主要还是在迎接这个剑网三无界的上线。所以总体来讲呢，是保持一个比较平稳的状态，好吧？全年呢，其实，大概...
我们现在这个，大概率，就是我们重头的这个产品的基本都会放到Q4上线，包括这个，我们的机甲类游戏，包括我们的那个，月影传说的手游，以及封神榜的手游。所以呢，就是，跟以往一样，我们也不会太对这些新上的游戏做太多的指引，还是要等...
总体来讲，就是第一个月的数出来之后，我们才会有一个比较清晰的一个结论，好不好？所以这是大体，呃，整体游戏的一个情况。先翻译一下。
I'm going to take the first question and also, I'm going to answer a part of the second question. Thank you so much of the question. I think in the first quarter of this year, we are having a really stable outlook since majorly contributed by the JX3, and since we have prioritized and throwing all of our effort in the JX3 Origins, and all of our team are welcoming the birth of or the release of the JX3 Origins.
If we are going to take an on top look of this year's priority, obviously our priority release is going to be focusing on the releases in the fourth quarter of this year. We are going to see the release of the mecha games and also the games, including the Creation of Gold and also the Shadow of the Moon. If we are taking onto look here, we might not be having a quite clear conclusion, since the major focus of this year is going to be concentrated on the performance of the fourth quarter and the performance of the game. We can only draw a quite clear conclusion of the performance of the game after one month of the release.
Second question. I will answer part of it first, and you can supplement the rest. As you said, Kingsoft Software Group overall has relatively ample cash on the books. How do we consider this? First of all, actually, facing the overall development of this AI, I have also talked about it several times at the meeting. Actually, Kingsoft Software Group does not rule out making some investments at the appropriate time, on the appropriate business. Yes, this, this I should have said many times. We have also always been exploring, especially this, this, this AI itself—empowering this To B, this field or direction. We have also always been exploring, okay. So, this part, this year there may be in the first half, there will be a relatively, relatively clear one, one, one conclusion, okay. So the remaining, Li Yi, please supplement and answer.
Hello, Xiao Dan. You can see that in 2023, our revenue for the whole company maintained a steady and continuous growth. Our revenue growth was over 10%. At the same time, our operating profit grew by 19%. The operating profit margin increased from 24% last year to 26% this year. You can also see that our operating cash flow actually increased by 36%. The second point is about how to improve our shareholder returns, which is an issue that the Board of Directors and management have always been concerned about. In terms of specific returns, you can see that for dividends, we have maintained a steady and continuous cash dividend every year. For share repurchases, starting from 2023, the company increased the repurchase amount. Last year, for the whole year, we repurchased about RMB 300 million in the market, of which RMB 250 million was cancelled. The remaining RMB 50 million was for employee incentives, which is also part of our compensation. In the first two months of 2024, in January and February, the repurchase amount was even larger, basically RMB 340 million. Overall, we have always been considering how to improve our shareholder returns based on market conditions and the company's capital situation. As for the specific amount of repurchase, we will also adjust according to actual circumstances. This year, the initial batch is about RMB 1 billion. This RMB 1 billion quota is also variable, and we may further increase it depending on market conditions.
Okay, okay, thank you Xiao Dan. Thank you so much. Let me take the second question about the cash on our account. Currently, our cash is accurate in terms of the whole operations in the Kingsoft Office Group, but we have kept a proportion of our cash in our account. Since we are facing a rapid development of the artificial intelligence, we are not going to exclude the possible opportunities where probably in the first half of this year, we might be investing in a potential AI related business, especially in the field of AI empowered To B sides. And after the first half of this year, we might have a clearer conclusion in that part. Now let me introduce you the performance of the cash figures or index that we have in the year 2023. The year 2023 have witnessed a very stable, while solid growth in terms of our revenues, which is growing by 10%, while we have already registered a 19% in terms of our profit, and the profit increase ratio it has been growing from 24%- 26%, year by year, and our cash flow has increased by 36%. And in terms of the dividend as well as the buyback, which is our commitment to our shareholders. Let me talk about the dividend first. We have kept a very stable and solid dividend to our shareholders, and we have always provided a very stable cash dividend to the shareholders. In the field of the buybacks, this year we have planned for RMB 300 million buybacks, where RMB 260 million goes to the shareholders and RMB 5 million goes to the employees.
... as an incentive to the employees. In terms of the dividend and buybacks this year, we are going to grant the number according to the performance of the market as well as the cash is in our account. Currently, what I have at my hand is the first branch of the dividend. We are planning to have RMB 1 billion dividend, but the concrete figure is going to be decided by the actual situation in the market, and we are going to disclose the number at that time. Thank you so much for your question.
Thank you. We will take our next question. The next question comes from the line of Linlin Yang from GF Securities. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
[Foreign language] 哎，谢谢，管理层给我提问。周总，易总好。我想提三个问题啊。第一个问题是关于，因为我看到我们的，OP margin，就是在四季度提升到，超过30%啊，然后那怎么去展望接下来2024年的OP margin的一个水平？然后第二个问题是关于，就是WPS AI这块啊，就是它，就是目前到现在来看，就是测试的情况，有没有一个，就是能不能谈一下这个，现在就是包括用户的体验啊，还有包括我们这边就是在产品功能上面，就是会做哪些深化。啊，还有就是我看到我们，截止到年底的一个付费用户数，有一个，一个增速，有一个提升，那这个主要是，是什么因素去驱动的？是基于之前我们的会员的调整，还是说就是有，有，有，不知道有没有AI带来的一个变化啊？啊，还有就是，嗯，就是这个增长往后看它的一个持续性。啊，然后第三个问题是关于云业务这一块，因为云的话，现在有没有看到关于云业务这，就是一些，这个最新的的一些进展，有没有一些积极的变化的因素，啊，包括行业方面的这个需求，现在你也经过过去一年的一个消化了，那现在又基于这个AI的推动，有没有一些积极的一些变化？啊，然后那就是云业务这一块，就是会不会说往后看，在利润端，就是也会有一个亏损收窄。啊，大概三个问题。那我简单翻译一下。My first question is about the OP margin. We saw the OP margin recovered to more than 30% in Q4.
How should we expect its performance for 2024? The second question is about WPS AI. How is the testing performance? And I saw the growth rate of paying users had increased in the last quarter. What are the main drivers? And how should we expect its growth in 2024? And the third question is about cloud. What positive change are there in the cloud business recently? And has there been an improvement in industry demand? How should we expect the bottom line in the next year? Thank you.
Linlin Yang, hello. I will answer the first question about the profit margin. You can see from the quarterly trend that the second quarter and fourth quarter are similar, exceeding 30%, so our third quarter should have the lowest point. Actually, what I want to say is that from 2023, whether it is the game business or the office business, the operating profit has grown. Looking at 2024, the development of AI should still be in the early stage, so no matter for the office or for the game, we have certain investments in AI. From this angle, it will have a certain impact on our profit. From the short term, from the long term, it is definitely a positive state, and it will not have too big an impact. Our overall 2024 operating profit margin will still maintain a relatively healthy and reasonable level. Yes, it will not be as high as 31%.
Thank you, Linlin. Let me take the first question from you about the operational margin. You could see from the previous record in the Q2 and Q4 of the year 2023, we have registered the operational margin much more than 30%, while the Q3 of the year 2023 have witnessed the lowest point across the year.
Because in the year, that is to say, by the year 2023, the two business sectors of our group, the gaming sector and the office sector, has kept a very good momentum, while in the year 2024, we are seeing we are forecasting the artificial intelligence related field is still at a budding stage. Where we are going to focus on the investment opportunities, both in our office software sector and also in our gaming sector. And this is going to have an impact in terms of the operational margins, where we are going to see in the short term, the operational margin is going to be, shrink, while in the long term, the operational margin is going to be benefited from the current investment. In the year 2024, the operational margin is going to be developed in a very healthy and reasonable manner. It might not be as high as over 30%.
[Foreign language] 我来回答第二个问题。WPS AI 去年十一月份，十一月中旬吧，开始了，这个测试。从测试的结果来看呢，总体达到了我们的预期。当然，随着测试暴露出的问题，我们也不断地在这个完善整个用户的产体验。反正到现在这个团队反应的情呢，也是基本上能达到预期。对，具体的产品功能的调整改善哪些呢？这个就是一句话两句话，可能玲玲就是没有办法给你讲得那么清楚，我觉得明天呢，他们办公也会有一个路演，大家可以去听，李一楠仔仔细细给大家介绍，好吧？我这边总体可以告诉你就测试和帮我们产品改进的都达到了我们的预期。所以呢，在近期呢，我们也会正式开始，就是付费的灰度测试，好吧，这是关于 AI 的进展情况。第二，会员数，你也关注到我们整体的会员数还是保持一个比较稳健的增长。最快呢，你刚才问到就是有哪些因素啊，会不会是因为 AI 自身的刺激？我的个人的观点啊，就是因为 AI 本身呢，我们并没有，并还没有推出这个，这个 AI 会员，所以呢，这个当然会不会因为有些人这个，因为 AI 功能所感知到了这个我们，然后用了我们的产品之后呢，又觉得不错，他就付费呢？我觉得是有这种可能性的啊，但是呢，我们也没办法这个具体，具体来这个定量的来分析了，好吧，我就只是有可能。所以呢，目前会员数的增长，我的个人的观点还是，这个本身 WPS 品牌，这个越来越多的人群知道，然后使用了产品之后，这个，确实是被我们的产品所打动吧，因为我们也披露了这个我们年对年的 PC 用户增长数呢，依然有 9.7%。所以呢，我个人认为这个还是正常的一个，这个增长吧，好吧。这是第二个问题，先翻译一下。
Let me take your second question, which is about the WPS AI. What I can tell you about the WPS AI is that we finished the testing, internal testing of the WPS AI in November 2023 last year, and we have discovered the problems and issues, and we have improved in terms of the different versions.
Our engineers and our are working on improving the user experience in the field of WPS AI. But in terms of the functions that all the product improvement and the final release versions, I'm not going to introduce it with such a very simple manner, and I cannot introduce it with one sentence or two sentences on this phone call. I believe tomorrow our off, our colleagues in the office sector, they are also going to have a road show, where you can attend, and you can also have a more understanding towards this field. So what I can tell you about the WPS AI is that we have concluded the testing, and we have continuously improving the user experience. The testing and improving improvement of the user experience has met up our expectations and our targets that we set it up before.
And this is what I want to say about the WPS AI. In terms of the reasons for the increase of the subscribed users, we are also seeing an increase of the subscribed users in the previous while. But what is the reason behind it? It might be because AI has created some of the highlights on the software related sectors, but we have not released the AI memberships. We are not going to... There might be some other reasons that the artificial intelligence might have shifted the focus of the public to us, and that's the reason why they want to pay for our softwares. But this might not be the mainstream reasons for the increase of the users. Currently, I think the increase of the users might be majorly because the brand appeal of the WPS Office.
Some of the users, they are office workers who enjoyed our product and they like it, and they recommend it to their friends and colleagues. That's the reason why for our 9.7% year-on-year growth in the our PC users.
[Foreign language] 第三个云业务的变化啊，我觉得这个问题特别，特别好。我站在我的角度讲讲啊，我第一个呢，肯定仍然是这个AI吧，就延续了去年的态势，尤其是，Sora那个模型的出来啊，就是又是春节后，使得整个行业吧，应该说对这个方向，AI这个方向呢，坚定了信心。所以这是一个我感知的一个比较大的变化啊。第二个变化呢？...
其实，2024年应该是这个，这个数据入表啊，入表应该是元年了。在2023年发布了这个实行草案，财政部，反正2024年开始数据入表，我自己也越来越强烈地感觉到，围绕数据，这个，这个无论是在，特别是在这个，这个，这个国企啊，国资云这个体系里，我就，我觉得这个，这个应该，应该是一个，未来会是一个非常...
怎么说呢？围绕数据入表，数据变成资产，数据变成钱呢，应该会非常热门的一个方向。而这一块呢，就是我们的观念叫云数一体啊，这个数据离开云，其实就，或者说这个云是数据的载体，所以呢，这个对整个行业也会，尤其是国内啊，这个主要是国内了，我的判断也是会，有，对整个行业带来比较大的一个变化。然后第三个呢，其实就是，运营商这个围绕CDN的这块啊，叫省间结算啊，这个通俗一点讲啊，其实就是运营商本身这个还是在涨价，这个可能对整个云行业的竞争也会产生一定的影响。我了解到就是，友商这边总体来讲，从去年的这个云降价这种模式啊，到今年基本上就，调整过来，反正，我最近也是听说啊，只能听说，似乎有涨价的这种可能性。对，这就是我自己啊，站在我的角度，一个是这个延续AI的态势，第二是围绕数据入表，数据资产到底这个怎么样的，这个全过程流通变得有价值这块，可能还正在激烈地讨论。第三个其实就运营商的一些政策的调整，好吧？要我们先翻译这部分。
Let me answer the third question, which is a question about the cloud business sectors. I believe the artificial intelligence is going to keep its momentum in the year 2024, especially after the Spring Festival, we are seeing the release of the follow-up models, which is also delighted the whole industry and provided us more confidence. I have a very optimistic outlook towards this field. The second part of my answer is about the changes in the year 2024. We are seeing the Ministry of Finance recently published an important governmental document relating to the procurement of the data and also computer-related sectors. This has give us a very important business opportunities, where we can provide our data-related and cloud-related services to the state-owned enterprises.
And I also believe moving into the future, data is going to be the future cash, and this has provided us a very important business opportunities. Once again, our company has adopted the principles where we find the unity between the cloud and the data, and I also take a very optimistic outlook towards the domestic market. The third part of my answer is about the operational CDN, and this is what we call. I believe that at the end of last year, this part of the sector has. I see some of the competitors increase their price, while this year, according to what I understand from our competitors and from the inside of the industry, that we are all planning to increase our prices because there is more value added to the operational business, and it's also affecting our cloud business.
This is my personal take of the development momentum of our industry.
[Foreign language] 所以呢，就是，总体来讲啊，我觉得这几个变化，尤其是AI的，包括数据的，这个数据资产的这个，我觉得都对整个云的这个产业都是一个，巨大的利好吧。就是，就是我，我去年也谈过，就基本上就把相当于把云的天花板呢，这个无限地打开了。对。然后呢，对于金山云本身来讲呢，因为等下有，有金山云的，本身的这个earning call，然后明天也会，明后天吧，我们也，也陆续会去说，我，我，我在这里就不多展开了，好吧？这个至于利润这个，这个，这个，这个变化情况呢，就到时候在云的会上，我们再去，再跟大家去沟通，OK。
So generally speaking, to wrap it up, I would say that the artificial intelligence and also the data assets is going to perform quite well for the cloud-related sectors. I have once again illustrated that in the different scenarios that the development of artificial intelligence and these data-related business models is also going to be very beneficial for our operational business. What I have already repeatedly is that it has opened up the limits for the development of the cloud sectors. And tomorrow, we are going to have the earnings call of Kingsoft Cloud, where you can get more information from their operation. I'm not going to elaborate here. Thank you.
Xiao Yu.
... Thank you.
Now we are going to proceed to the next question. Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one and one on your telephone.
...We will take our next question. Your next question comes from the line of Daley Li from Bank of America. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Mr. Zou, Mr. Li, hello everyone. Thank you for taking my question. I'll quickly ask one. That is, I have two questions. The first question is about our active device count. I saw that in last quarter, quarter-over-quarter, there was an increase of about 1.5 points, while the first three quarters were actually flat. I'd like to ask about this increase. In absolute terms, it's about 8 million. I'd like to ask if this is related to our AI launch. Can we say that most of it is possibly, or possibly a considerable part, driven by the AI-related features we launched? That's the first question. The second is about our AI development strategy. In the previous conference call, I remember Mr. Zou mentioned that our AI prioritizes active device count, then paying users, then revenue. I'd like to ask, based on the current test results, including user experience, has our strategy had any changes, or have we made some corresponding adjustments? Good. Those are my two questions. I'll simply translate here. Thank you very much for taking my question.
I have two questions. Number one is about the monthly active devices. We see the number is getting better during the full Q last year, and may I know if the key drivers from the AI product launch in full Q? My third question is about the AI development strategy mentioned in our last earnings call. We prioritize the number of the monthly active devices and the paying user and the output. So, how is our strategy right now? Do we make any adjustment after we have done some testing about the product and the consumer feedback? Thank you.
[Foreign language] OK，那个活跃设备数的问题，那个你的问题是问的就是看到活跃设备增长，然后是不是跟AI有一定关系。说实话，这个我没有办法回答你，我也搞不清楚，是这些人是因为AI来的还是因为什么来的。但实际上呢，总体来讲呢，我们参考看一下去年前年的，我，个人觉得还是总体来讲还是延续了办公这种增长趋势吧。然后当然这背后的，尤其是在去年啊一年，办公这个在AI领域的这个，应该说跟大模型的整合啊，在AI领域的这个，应该叫声望吧，还是挺高的，基本上。所以，所以在去年，因为AI而了解我们办公的人，我，人群我觉得应该也不在少数吧。所以呢，综合来看，应该就是这个多方面的综合原因，一来有过去总体的随着办公体验越来越好，用户越来越多，使用之后的口碑越来越好，的，的正常传播之外，就是整个去年这一年，这个AI的这个，这个加持肯定也是有的，好，这是我的观点。第二个呢，你，你问到关于整个，呃，我们办公的策略，我觉得你记得很清楚啊，呃，我觉得没有变化，这个，这个，这应该是我们总体来讲永恒的，就是我们一定是先，呃，这个，这个，当然在那个之前，所有的一切都是让用户满意啊，产品要做好。呃，对，产品做好，这样的话呢，就是我们这个我们获取，获取更多的用户数，然后才是去，去，去，去提高这个，这个付费用户的比例，最后才是去，去提升这个APP值。对，所以呢，呃，呃，呃，我觉得在今年吧，呃，或者在从去年开始到今年，我们总体这个策略依然会延续。呃，只是我去年谈过一个，我说，我说本来呢，去年的工作重点啊，是是是提升APP值，对，没有AI之前，其实我们会员体系的升级等等，大家也都看到了。但是呢，我去年也回答过，AI之后，我们首要的工作啊，一定是回到，呃，把大模型跟我们的产品这个如何更好地融合，为我们的用户提供更好的体验上，这就回到就是还是要把产品做好这个。呃，对，好吧。所以呢，这个，这个，呃，今年呢，我们也会延续吧，其实当然那个，呃，我们去年开始公测啊，今年会陆续进入到收费阶段。对，所以呢，就是今年就是，呃，在产品体验保证的前提下，我们也会呃，逐步这个，这个，这个进行商业化，好吧？所以这是个策略。
Let me answer your question about the increase of the numbers of large active devices. I'm not going to to answer the question on whether our growth is related to the artificial intelligence. My frank answer is that I don't know whether it's because of the artificial intelligence or for the other reasons we are seeing the rapid growth, but I definitely believe the office we are benefited from this field. The large language models with the empowered in the AI field definitely going to bring us more active experiences in the field.
But I, the increase of the numbers might be due to a very comprehensive reasons, including we are providing better office software experiences for the users and spread by month to month, the user number increased, but AI definitely empowers the fields of office software-related software, and this is also one of the important reasons for the growth. And for the strategies that we have adopted in the office softwares, I would say all of our strategies, first and foremost, is designed to satisfy our end users. Providing the satisfying product to our end users is the most path we are going to take in order to satisfy, in order to increase the user numbers. And we have always focusing on increasing the numbers of the subscribed users, increasing the ARPU . This strategy continues.
I have mentioned about the strategy in last year's call, and this year we are also going to increase the ARPU . Artificial intelligence definitely bring us to the new field where we are going to empower our product with the large language models. This year, we are going to continue our strategy and focusing on satisfying the user first. By improving the user experience, we are going to harvest more subscribed users. That is my answer to your question.
[Foreign language] 好了，多了一段时间就可以结束了。
Hi, thank you for joining us today, and this will conclude our presentation for the 2023 fourth quarter and annual results earnings call. Thank you.