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Compared with previous years, this year's Double 11 seemed particularly deserted. No one mentioned the GMV (gross merchandise transaction) data and growth data. The excitement of JD.com, Taobao Tmall, Douyin, Kuaishou and other platforms has faded. In the peaceful and orderly Double 11 atmosphere, the "smart education hardware sales battle" between the former K12 education companies and technology companies became even more prominent.
Zuoyebang released the Double 11 battle report: the omni-channel GMV of various educational smart products under Zuoyebang Hardware exceeded 250 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 238%. Among them, Zuoyebang Learning Machine has become the champion in both sales and sales in the 2,000-3,000 yuan price range on JD.com and Tmall channels.
iFlytek announced its Double 11 battle report: display hardware sales increased by 126% year-on-year, and multiple AI products continued to win category championships. Among them, the AI learning machine series won the full-cycle sales championship in the learning machine category on both JD.com and Tmall. Major electronic products such as the iFlytek smart recording pen series and the iFlytek translator series also performed well.
The reason why education companies participated in Double Eleven and achieved outstanding results is that the spring of intelligent education hardware is coming.
Intelligent education hardware "welcomes spring"
In the past two years, the "content camp" dominated by education companies and the "tech camp" dominated by technology companies have been working hard to seize the market share of intelligent education hardware, which has invisibly promoted the upgrading of intelligent education hardware products and the expansion of the industrial scale. The mainstream Sales of learning tablets continue to rise.
According to the latest data from Luotu Technology, the retail sales of China’s learning tablets in the online public retail market in the third quarter of this year were 338,000 units (excluding content e-commerce companies such as Doukuai), a year-on-year increase of 43.4%; sales were 910 million yuan. , a year-on-year increase of 59.0%; the average price was 2,697 yuan, 265 yuan higher than the same period last year.
Tracing back to the source, the mutual promotion of supply and demand is the reason why learning machines maintain a growth rate, and it is also the core reason for the growth in sales of intelligent educational hardware products.
On the production side, is in line with the saying "product strength determines sales." In the first half of this year, iFlytek, TAL, Xiaodu Technology, Zuoyebang, etc. Many education and technology companies have innovated and released a variety of smart education hardware products, causing a surge in sales of smart education hardware products.
Corresponding to the market changes, more and more companies are participating in the construction of the intelligent education hardware industry. According to relevant data from Tianyancha, as of now, there are more than 7,800 educational hardware-related companies. Among them, there will be more than 230 and more than 80 newly registered companies in 2021 and 2022 respectively; since January 2023, more than 20 new registered companies have been added, with an average registration growth rate of 35.5%.
On the consumer side,After the "double reduction", parents' attention to family education has further increased, and the subject training budget has been transferred to the purchase of smart education hardware. According to iResearch survey data, parents’ total annual expenditure on children’s education is basically between 10,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, of which smart education hardware accounts for 10%-30%.
Back in those days, intelligent education and learning hardware products were criticized as "pseudo-intelligent" and "tasteless", so the current high sales volume is even more valuable. It has to be said that the continuously improving artificial intelligence technology has gilded intelligent education hardware products and provided unlimited possibilities for the development of intelligent education hardware products.
Intelligent educational hardware products are becoming more and more important, and their emergence and upgrades have brought many new possibilities and opportunities to education and technology companies.
Educational faction: Zuoyebang promotes “technology education”
Unconsciously, the "double reduction" policy has been implemented for 2 years, and online education companies are gradually on the right track of transformation. New Oriental has carved a niche in the field of live streaming e-commerce, TAL has turned a profit by focusing on quality-oriented education, and Zuoyebang has also tasted the benefits of the smart education hardware market.
Relevant data shows that Zuoyebang's annual shipments in 2022 will reach more than 2.1 million units, ranking first in the educational intelligent hardware industry. Among them, learning printers, electronic word cards, and wrong-question printers have also won the first market share in the category. In addition, Zuoyebang won the GET2023 "Educational Hardware Leadership Award", indicating that industry insiders highly recognize its strength.
There are various factors leading to the staged success of Zuoyebang's transformation into intelligent educational hardware. Strategy, product, brand and other factors jointly promote the smooth transformation of Zuoyebang.
First of all, Zuoyebang firmly believes in the transformation direction of smart education hardware and is striving to capture the smart hardware market. While other online education companies are confused about transformation, Zuoyebang has established a dual-engine strategy of "education + technology" and is determined to use technological means to help inclusive education, using artificial intelligence, big data, etc. Cutting-edge technology provides full-scenario education solutions for students, teachers, and parents.
Secondly, Zuoyebang expands its intelligent education hardware product line to achieve multi-point development. From word cards, AI learning desks, error printers, learning printers to learning machines, Zuoyebang has incubated a number of popular items and formed a stable product matrix that can meet the needs of different users. Scenario educational hardware requirements.
It is worth mentioning that Zuoyebang has unique ideas in hardware product design and production, and its differentiated product production routes have built its core competitiveness. It entered the field of intelligent education hardware from new categories such as error printers and electronic word cards, avoiding the hot learning machine track, and successfully made a good start in entering the intelligent education hardware track.
Furthermore, Zuoyebang makes good use of educational resources and brand influence to achieve the rapid implementation and promotion of smart hardware products. As a well-known online education company, Zuoyebang’s reputation and resource advantages in the education field will help promote the promotion and application of intelligent education hardware.
For example: Zuoyebang Learning Machine uses a professional teaching and research team to integrate 850 million+ industry top-level question banks, covering 1.18 million+ teaching aids, 2.65 million+ test papers and other rich educational resources to provide users with high-quality tutoring services.
However, it reaches users through front-end hardware, then uses built-in courses to attract users to purchase, and finally strengthens the entire online education closed loop through services. It has established partnerships with many K12 education and training institutions such as NetEase Youdao, Squirrel Ai, Gaotu, Zhangmen Education, etc. The transformation routes are similar, and in terms of educational resources, brand influence, etc., they are not inferior to Zuoyebang. The competitive pressure of Zuoyebang is not small.
Technology faction: iFlytek increases investment in AIGC
Education companies represented by Zuoyebang are actively exploring new growth space for smart education hardware, and technology companies represented by iFlytek are not far behind. The two factions are chasing after each other, which is very lively.
Financial report data shows that related applications in the education field are iFlytek’s largest business segment. This part’s revenue accounted for 30.87% in the first half of 2023, an increase from 29.03% in the same period last year. In addition, iFlytek's C-side hardware GMV hit a record high from May to June 2023, doubling year-on-year.
It is not surprising that iFlytek's smart education hardware revenue has achieved such outstanding results. In addition to the positive external factors, its strong technological innovation strength, complete product layout, and mature sales system also played an important role.
In terms of products, iFlytek not only has popular single products, but also has a rich matrix of educational hardware products. Its education provides a full range of hardware products for different educational scenarios and needs, covering smart classroom solutions, translation pens, printers and other smart learning terminal equipment, meeting the needs of different customers and expanding its market share.
Take the iFlytek learning machine as an example: in terms of price, its price span is relatively large, stretching from more than a thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, meeting the needs of users from different consumer classes. In terms of product quality, its learning resources, hardware configuration, and intelligent supporting management are all industry ceilings.
In addition, it is a general trend that AI large models will be implemented in the education industry, and iFlytek's AI large model technology is at the forefront of the industry. It is understood that the GMV of the iFlytek AI learning machine equipped with the iFlytek Spark cognitive large model increased by 136% and 217% in May and June respectively.
In terms of technology, iFlytek, as a technical player, not only has strong artificial intelligence core technology, but also has excellent large-scale industrial implementation capabilities. It has inherent advantages in educational hardware products.
iFlytek has always attached great importance to technology research and development, which can be seen from its investment in research and development. Financial report data shows that in the first three quarters of 2023, iFlytek’s R&D investment was 2.498 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7%; of which the R&D expenses in the third quarter were 981 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 10%, an increase of nearly 1% compared with the second quarter. 23%, indicating that research and development efforts continued to increase in the third quarter.
The technical advantages of iFlytek can also be seen from the speed of upgrades and iterations of iFlytek's AI learning machine. In May, after several iterations, the Spark cognitive large model was successfully implemented in the T20 AI learning machine; in August, the Spark cognitive large model V2.0 was applied on the iFlytek AI learning machine of USTC, making it capable of intelligent programming, Creative painting and other abilities; in October, the Spark Cognitive Large Model V3.0 was applied in the iFlytek AI learning machine of HKUST, giving it the ability to inspire and interact with AI to answer questions and assist learning.
In terms of channels, iFlytek has established a complete sales network and channels to ensure wide product coverage and smooth sales channels. iFlytek's channels not only cover traditional e-commerce Tmall and JD.com, but also deploy on mainstream content e-commerce platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu to attract customers through multiple channels and improve sales efficiency and market share.
From the current point of view, iFlytek integrates advantages in technology, channels, products, etc., and has long-term competitiveness. However, user needs are changing with each passing day, and iFlytek needs to speed up product technology upgrades and prepare for rainy days.
Disagreement: Focus on content or AIGC?
At present, strengthening the intelligent attributes of educational hardware products has become a common choice for both education and technology groups. But for now, the large AI model is in its early stages, and the application effects are there, but it has not yet directly stimulated consumers to change their phones or buy new ones.
Therefore, in addition to AIGC capabilities, content is still an important focus that educational smart hardware manufacturers cannot ignore.
On the one hand, high-quality, scarce, and diverse content plays a vital role in the success of education. Therefore, AI capabilities are not the only criterion for consumers to purchase intelligent educational hardware. Rich educational content is also required.
For consumers, educational smart hardware products are best integrated with the latest scientific education concepts and technical means to make learning more lively and interesting, and through data analysis functions, help students and parents better understand the learning situation and adjust learning methods in a timely manner and strategy.
On the other hand, the maximum effectiveness of large AI models in educational intelligent hardware products has not yet emerged, and industry players such as Zuoyebang and iFlytek need to spend time polishing them.
In parents’ ideals, AI large models must be fully used in educational intelligent hardware products to achieve three major upgrades: first, it can provide a personalized learning experience and can be adjusted according to the progress and needs of each student; second, it can increase The interactivity, gamification and fun of educational intelligent hardware can stimulate children's interest in learning; third, it can help parents better track their children's learning progress, thereby better supporting their growth.
To sum up, as the intelligent education hardware industry heats up, market competition pressure will also increase. High-quality educational content can provide a solid foundation for learning, while AIGC makes education more personalized and efficient. The two complement each other and one is missing. No, Zuoyebang and iFlytek must not favor one over the other.