The end point of online education enterprise transformation is to make homogeneous intelligent hardware?

Recently, Xiaoshuai sighed, “My cousin from my hometown is really courageous.”. The monthly salary is less than 5000 yuan, but the child spends 5498 yuan on a booster tutor! “It’s equivalent to my salary of 20000 yuan per month, and spending 25000 yuan to buy a learning appliance for my child. I’m sure I can’t do it!”
“It’s just that children can grow up freely. Why should parents care so much? In those days, parents didn’t care if they didn’t go to college? They also found jobs. Isn’t happiness education very popular?” The single Xiaoshuai completely didn’t understand his cousin’s approach. But within the parent community, this is not uncommon. After all, only practitioners and parents understand the “importance of education.”.
After the implementation of the “double reduction” policy last year, both in first-tier cities and in the vast sinking market, offline educational institutions have almost disappeared, and the once popular live streaming teachers have also almost disappeared. But has the enthusiasm of parents disappeared? The answer is no! So what do parents want their children to learn?
Many parents with strong “intelligent” abilities seek resources through various channels, while parents without such abilities place their hopes on educational intelligent hardware represented by tutoring machines. It seems that only “children learning” can make mothers happy.
According to the “2021 China Education Intelligent Hardware Trend Insight” jointly released by Tencent Research Institute and iResearch Consulting, education intelligent hardware is expected to reach a market size of nearly 100 billion within three years, with emerging categories leading the future growth of education intelligent hardware.
The expanding market demand has added many new forces to the supply side. For a while, both established smart hardware manufacturers and original K12 education enterprises regarded them as gold seekers. But the question is: Is it really easy to enter the field of intelligent education hardware?
01
Small table lamps set off a “lamp making craze” in educational enterprises
“Because I searched for” Smart Table Lamps “before, my mother, Xiao An, received relevant sales information the next morning.” “After clicking on it, I found that there are purchase links for three products: Dali calligraphy, Dali art, and Dali puzzle. Dali calligraphy (season package), Dali art (season package), and Dali puzzle are priced at 1288 yuan, and the annual package for calligraphy and painting art is 2388 yuan.”
Is the end point of online education enterprise transformation to make homogeneous intelligent hardware?
“This is a magical table lamp,” said Xiao An,
Powerful smart lights are truly “extraordinary”. In May 2020, it was this lamp that came into being, setting off a frenzy of “lighting” in educational enterprises.
“The summer before last, when the concept of work lights was at its peak, our boss directly brought Turing’s desk lights and found a group of employees with children. Dozens of people were brainstorming, ‘What educational hardware is this? Does the company have the opportunity to do it?'” Wu Huan said “In fact, the collected needs are quite representative. For example, some parents divide their children’s learning tools very carefully, use a listening device to grind their ears in English, and use various tablets for online classes. Common examples include iPADs, which focus on their children’s eyesight and choose the screen of Hivo or BOE, while parents who do not have the ability to tutor directly use a tutor machine.”.
However, after analysis, we will find that the core is “content”. “Turing’s intelligent desk lamp is relatively rough in workmanship, and its function is image recognition and audio output,” he said That is, place the Chinese and English picture books in the resource library under the desk lamp, and the camera of the desk lamp will recognize the images and then play the audio. “It’s a bit like the early point reading pen.”
This is clearly due to the concerns behind education practitioners. The market has not given them much time to return to brainstorming. Soon, iFLYTEK released the Alpha Egg Intelligent Learning Lamp, while Dark Things Intelligence and Tencent Education released the AILA Intelligent Work Lamp X1… At that time, companies such as Job Search Help, TAL, New Oriental, Ape Tutoring, and Rob also began to explore “making a lamp.”.
The ambitious lamp making plan has not been weakened by the implementation of the “double reduction” policy. On the contrary, in the past two years, the industry has welcomed a batch of new entrants.
NetEase, which has entered the field of education from a dictionary, also released the Youdao Intelligent Learning Lamp on the 7th of this month, officially entering the field of intelligent desk lamps. This is also another new product of NetEase after a series of intelligent learning products such as Youdao dictionary pen, pocket printer, and listening treasure.
Why did NetEase enter this market after two years of “lamp making craze”? According to Zhou Feng, CEO of NetEase Youdao, we have been preparing this product for nearly two years. In 2020, we are working on technology, and in 2021, we will establish a project. “The four major functions of Youdao Intelligent Learning Lamp are word search, intensive reading, good problem book, and focus mode.”.
The research and development of educational intelligent hardware has always been one of NetEase’s key projects. Intelligent hardware is also an important source of revenue for NetEase. According to financial report data, NetEase’s net revenue of intelligent hardware in 2021 was 980 million yuan, an increase of 81.6% year-on-year. https://store.stoneitech.com/ 02“
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“Heavy” learning machine market, arena for new and old giants
For the post 80s and post 90s, when it comes to learning machines, it may remind them of the Bubugao, scholar, and even bully who accompanied them in their growth. When they become parents, what educational artifacts will they use for their children?
“Of course, there are too many brands of tutoring machines, and there is no mistake in choosing one from Bubugao, Reading School, or Excellence School.” Wei, 85, said, “Before the first grade, children use small numbers. After all, children cannot read, speak, and have child models.” However, she also said that after entering primary school, they should use tutoring machines that complement their high scores. After all, pinyin, literacy, and English enlightenment all need to be done, for fear of making a mistake.
In her opinion, the price of tutoring machines is not high. “Compared to previous offline training courses, which cost one semester of training, if the machine is well protected, it is no problem for primary school graduates. Educational resources can be downloaded from the store, making it more convenient.” Convenient. ”
In the market, smart education hardware manufacturers are divided into the traditional camp and the emerging camp. Bubugao, Youxue and Shulang are traditional hardware manufacturers. Internet technology companies represented by iFLYTEK, Baidu, and Xiaomi are considered “new”.
Throughout these learning and tutoring machines, in addition to traditional functions such as finger reading and map reading, synchronous teaching aids are also provided for students to learn by themselves for nearly two years.
For example, models such as the Bubugao tutoring machine K5 and the Elite School E12 all provide functions such as English class tracking and classroom notes.
Is the end point of online education enterprise transformation to make homogeneous intelligent hardware?
In addition, the price of learning machines has also increased with the addition of new features. For example, cousin Xiaoshuai bought a 5498 yuan Bubugao S6 for her child, featuring “AI Intelligent Precision Learning”, including more high-end features such as AI spoken language, AI finger reading, and eye protection screens. Its smoothness and durability are better than the entry level products of hundreds of yuan.
In addition to built-in learning resources, iFLYTEK also focuses on AI, including quality education content such as music, art, calligraphy, programming, and sports. This coincides with the art, calligraphy, and intellectual education concepts that have recently been sold by Dynamic Smart Table Lamps.
Recently, the leader has also accelerated the pace of transformation and launched the first intelligent learning machine product. Built-in synchronous teaching auxiliary resources and comprehensive high-quality content for 9 disciplines from primary to high school.
These intelligent education hardware not only gain market share on the consumer side, but also are highly sought after in the capital market. According to incomplete statistics, there were 44 financing cases in the field of educational intelligent hardware in 2021, most of which were concentrated in areas with relatively developed education and IT manufacturing industries such as Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai. Last November, Shulang also heard about the IPO of Hong Kong stocks.
03
“Three Questions of the Soul” Should Be Faced with in Educational Intelligent Hardware
On the surface, the intelligent education hardware market is booming, but the hidden worries behind it are particularly obvious.
“Smart education hardware relies on content to win,” Wu Huan said. “Regardless of fancy features, parents are more concerned about whether their children’s learning time is the same. Finally, it is important to return to the origin of whether the content is high-quality.”
“For example, some small manufacturers just see a hot market and lack the ability to teach and research. They find content from various content suppliers and sell it in hardware. This is obviously not a real ‘learning machine’, but rather a medium for enterprises to do business.” Wu Huan, who has worked on the front line of teaching and research for many years, is full of anxiety about this industry.
In fact, the first issue that all smart education manufacturers need to face is content compliance. Let’s take a learning machine as an example. It is a common practice for almost all learning machine manufacturers to sell recorded and broadcast courses as hardware. However, according to the “Notice on resolutely investigating and punishing the issue of conducting disciplinary training outside school in disguised form and violating the relevant regulations on training time”, “conducting disciplinary training in the form of ‘live streaming+live streaming’ will be investigated and punished in accordance with the law and regulations.”.
So, is there a risk of violation in the current practice of learning machines?
Secondly, along with content, we have to face up to the deeper effects brought by another content. As Wu Huan said, the ultimate competition for educational intelligent hardware is still content. So, who are the content producers of the learning machine? Is there real teaching and research? Is it really possible to diagnose learning abilities through AI? Can it really improve learning efficiency? Or is this content really effective? Are you wasting your students’ time?
Third, product homogeneity is serious, price wars dominate, and genuine innovation is lacking. Similar to hardware products in other fields, major manufacturers almost always release new products every year, regardless of performance, materials, or gimmicks. However, at the level of product application service development, few enterprises truly dare to define new categories. In addition, in terms of product pricing and channel sales, it is also easy to be copied by peers. The final result is bound to be detrimental to the expansion of intelligent hardware application scenarios and the improvement of user experience.
epilogue
There is no denying that the education hardware market has always existed. Currently, the essence of intelligent hardware is its upgraded version.
More than 20 years ago, Xiaoba Wang was just a product that played games and occasionally typed. Today, it has been upgraded to an educational product. Perhaps 20 years from now, when we look back on today’s various intelligent hardware products, we will also sigh for the hegemony of the president as we do today.
With the tide of the times rolling forward, who can really laugh at the same kind of products that have grown up to seize the market?