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In a shopping mall in Pudong District, Shanghai, there are learning machine stores of three brands, namely Xiaoyuan, seewo and iFLYTEK, within a range of less than 50 meters.

"Nowadays, a lot of people are buying learning machines. You see, I have set up three customer groups on my mobile phone. Two of them are full, and the third group has almost 200 people." A salesperson from one of the stores introduced to the Securities Times reporter.

AI learning machines are the “hot item” in the current education field.

On July 19, the head of the E-Commerce Department of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the development of my country's e-commerce from January to June 2024, mentioning that digital goods, service consumption, and old for new became new growth points in the first half of the year, with AI learning machines and smart wearables growing by 136.6% and 31.5% respectively.

AI learning machines are hot selling

In the past two years, many stores selling learning machines have quietly opened in major shopping malls.

On July 30, a reporter from Securities Times visited several learning machine stores in shopping malls and electronic product markets in Shanghai. The reporter learned that with the arrival of summer vacation and before the start of the new semester, the sales of learning machines have also ushered in a wave of enthusiasm.

"Just now, a parent bought two machines at once. He has three children at home and said that one learning machine is not enough. After taking a look at them, he quickly decided to buy one." In an electronics market in Xuhui District, Shanghai, clerk Wang Ling (pseudonym) enthusiastically introduced the store's AI learning machine products to reporters.

Wang Ling's store sells multiple brands of learning machines. She focused on introducing the learning machines of Xiaoyuan and Xueersi to the reporter. "These two are the best-selling ones in our store now." Wang Ling said that with the recent summer vacation, many parents brought their children to buy learning machines. Some parents who are undecided will bring their children to the store to experience them, and the children generally like them.

In a shopping mall in Putuo District, Shanghai, learning machine stores of multiple brands are clustered together.

Shen Juan (pseudonym), a salesperson at Xiaoyuan training machine, told reporters that the store currently only sells one product, the training machine. Summer vacation is the peak sales season. Recently, many of her customers are from Shanxi, Henan, Hubei and other places. Most of them are parents who buy them as gifts for their children, and some take them away as gifts when traveling.

Shen Juan said that unlike other products on the market, the Xiaoyuan learning and practicing machine uses an electronic ink screen and focuses on exercise practice functions. It is the only product on the market called a "learning and practicing machine."

Not only offline, online sales of learning machines are also booming.

Relevant data previously released by research institution RUNTO showed that in the first quarter of 2024, the online omni-channel sales volume of China's learning tablet market was 689,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 79.9%.

According to a Securities Times reporter's analysis, the sales of learning machines in live broadcast rooms have increased significantly since January this year. In May this year, half of the top ten digital products in Douyin live broadcast rooms were learning machines, and the sales of learning machines from brands such as Xiaoyuan, Zuoyebang, iFlytek, and Xueersi ranked among the top.

Widespread use of AI technology

"Smart hardware has been developed for so many years, and its popularity has gradually increased. Especially during the epidemic, many students study online and can accept the learning mode of learning machines. In addition, the original hardware cost for learning scenarios was still relatively high. Now the reduction in hardware costs has also driven the popularization of learning machines." Liu Kai, founder of Yingmei Consulting, told reporters.

In terms of content, Liu Kai believes that the accumulation of many educational enterprises over the years has provided rich educational content for learning machines, and the development of AI technology has changed the original one-way output mode of recorded classes and can provide more personalized services. "For parents, if there is an 'AI teacher' with a relatively reasonable price, there is still a lot of demand in the market."

The market demand is real, which has led major education platforms and technology companies to invest heavily. The reporter learned that the mainstream learning machine products on the market are divided into two categories, one is launched by educational institutions such as Zuoyebang and Xueersi, and the other is launched by technology companies such as iFlytek and Baidu.

Although there are many brands, each brand has its own focus on price and product positioning.

In terms of price, among the main selling learning machine brands on the market, the price of Xiaoyuan learning machine is relatively low, with the main selling model priced at about 3,800 yuan; the main selling learning machine products of Xueersi have prices ranging from 4,800 yuan to 6,500 yuan depending on the hardware configuration.

Zuoyebang has many product models, and the price range of different products is quite large, ranging from less than 2,000 yuan to more than 5,000 yuan.

iFlytek focuses on the high-end market. Its main selling T20 learning machine is priced at more than 7,000 yuan, and there are also products priced over 10,000 yuan. In addition to the one-time payment for the hardware, the built-in course content of these learning machines is basically free and will be continuously updated.

"In the past, a training course would cost 20,000 yuan a year." A parent of a student who purchased a learning machine told reporters that although the price of a learning machine is not cheap, it is still relatively cost-effective compared to the training courses they had previously signed up for, which is also an important reason why they are willing to buy it.

In terms of functions, the basic functions of the learning machines sold in the market are basically the same, most of which have functions such as question banks, explanations, and corrections, but each major brand has its own emphasis. In addition, under the AI ​​trend, each learning machine brand generally applies its own developed AI large model to its products.

"The main feature of Zuoyebang's products is AI, especially its writing ability." At a Zuoyebang store, a clerk demonstrated the AI ​​capabilities of a learning machine to reporters. After the clerk input keywords into the learning machine, AI can give targeted writing suggestions, help sort out the composition structure, and further generate a sample essay for reference.

At an iFLYTEK store, the clerk focused on demonstrating the homework grading function to the reporter. After the camera on the learning machine pops up and takes a picture of the homework, the learning machine can automatically grade the homework and correct the mistakes. "For senior students, parents may not be able to give guidance, and students cannot go to the teacher for every question, so the learning machine is very helpful," the clerk said.

(Xueersi learning machine products)

"Xueersi focuses on teacher explanations, Xiaoyuan focuses on a rich question bank, and iFlytek focuses on AI functions. We generally recommend specific products based on consumer needs." Wang Ling introduced to reporters.

There is still room for development

Dictionary pens, smart study lights, word machines, learning machines... In recent years, there has been an endless stream of smart learning hardware. As the most popular category recently, learning machines may still have a large market space in the future.

The "2024-2025 China Smart Learning Machine Market Trend Research Report" recently released by iMedia Consulting shows that the scale of China's educational smart hardware market will reach 80.7 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 29.53%; it is expected that the scale of China's educational smart hardware market will exceed 100 billion yuan in 2025.

iiMedia Research analysts believe that China's intelligent educational products are bringing more possibilities and innovations to traditional education methods. The deep integration of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence with education is an important step in the high-quality development of the field of intelligent learning machines in the future.

(iFlytek AI learning machine product)

On July 16 this year, A-share company iFlytek mentioned in a research activity that the company's AI learning machine continued to maintain a high growth momentum, with sales increasing by more than 100% from January to May this year. iFlytek mentioned many times in research activities that overall, the company's C-end business represented by educational software and hardware and office software and hardware has established stable self-operated and third-party sales channels, and the growth momentum of smart hardware will continue.

"Learning machines are definitely a hot spot in the market. Currently, some manufacturers are engaged in ToC business, while others are engaged in ToB business. They make learning machine products for various institutions. Both of these market demands will exist in the future. In addition, learning machines cannot solve all the problems children encounter in learning. Students' needs are personalized. Providing some supporting services in the future may also be an option for manufacturers." Liu Kai said.

Liu Kai told the reporter that in terms of hardware, there is no particularly high threshold for the overall hardware design, chips, algorithms, etc. of learning machines, and there are mature companies that can provide solutions. "The more important thing about learning machines is their ability to assist learning, and in this regard, educational institutions will have a certain advantage."

Editor: Chen Lixiang

Photo courtesy: Wu Zhi

Proofreading: Zhu Tianting