At the beginning of 2024, educational enterprises began to roll up in fields such as large models and learning machines.
On January 3rd, NetEase Youdao submitted multiple transcripts, including the Ziyue Big Model 2.0, Youdao Speed Reading, the new generation virtual human oral private teaching, AI tutoring, and Youdao AI learning machine X20. The new generation of hardware, the Youdao AI learning machine X20, has become a collection of multiple large model landing applications in Youdao, and has integrated many selling points of learning machines and training machines on the market. However, the learning machine with full buffs is priced lower than iFlytek and Xueersi.
In the first three quarters of 2023, Youdao's hardware business revenue was not ideal, and with the upgrade of large model versions and the support of large model landing applications, whether Youdao can boost its hardware business has also attracted attention.
Learning Machine Stacked Incremental Model
The track of learning machines is getting increasingly winding.
According to Gao Huituran, the product manager of NetEase's Youdao AI learning machine, the Youdao AI learning machine X20 pioneered the "three in one" model, which integrates learning machines, learning practice machines, and student exclusive computers. At the same time, it is also the first AI learning machine to implement an education model.
On January 3rd, Gao Huituran stated in an interview with a reporter from Huaxia Times that the X20 has two main selling points in the learning machine scene. Firstly, the Youdao AI learning machine is equipped with a native application of the "Confucius" education model; The second is the (built-in) system resources of English teaching accumulated by Youdao for 17 years.
In mid December 2023, Xueersi officially released its new learning machine product, the xPad2 Pro series, which not only has content advantages but also has the support of large model technology. Zhao Puzheng, the person in charge of Xueersi Learning Machine, said that many traditional learning machines are "pieced together content+outdated hardware", making it difficult to ensure their professionalism and systematicity, resulting in poor actual utilization and effectiveness, ultimately leading to an extremely high rate of failure.
At the end of May 2023, Ape Tutoring released the Little Ape Learning and Training Machine, which features an ink screen to protect vision and has reached a content cooperation agreement with the flagship product 5.3 in the field of educational aids.
Gao Huituran told reporters, "Youdao integrates some key small abilities into a three in one AI learning machine, which meets all the needs of users at once, and is not simply piling them up."
NetEase Youdao CEO Zhou Feng explained to reporters that Youdao focuses on the pain points of children's Q&A, and it is very painful for parents to give their children lectures. During the trial sales of the product, parents gave feedback that the tutoring function is very necessary.
Omni directional "involution"
As more content and applications are added to the learning machine, the segmented track is becoming more and more competitive, mainly reflected in its price.
The pricing of this Youdao AI learning machine X20, which combines selling points, is divided into two price ranges based on its configuration. The price for 8G+256G is 5999 yuan, and the price for 16G+512G is 7999 yuan. The Youdao AI learning machine X20 is priced at a mid to high level, but lower than the learning machines of iFlytek and Xueersi. Xueersi xPad2 Pro Max and xPad2 Pro have initial prices of 8599 yuan and 6599 yuan respectively; The iFlytek AI learning machine T20 Pro is priced at 8999 yuan.
Compared to the learning and training machine, the Youdao AI learning machine X20 is priced higher. At the end of May 2023, Ape Tutoring released the Little Ape Learning and Training Machine, priced at 4299 yuan, with a discounted initial price of 3899 yuan.
The "AI Industry Learning Machine Special Report" released by Zhejiang Securities points out that with the continuous deepening of the integration of learning machine products with AI technology, the diversification of functions will drive the increase of consumer willingness to pay, and the high-end learning machine category will gradually occupy the leading position in the industry.
According to the latest monthly tracking of China's online retail market for learning tablets released by RUNTO, the main selling price range for the online learning tablet market in the third quarter of 2023 was between 1000 yuan and 2000 yuan, accounting for 34.4%, a decrease of 16.7 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
At the same time, the mid to high end price range of 4000-6000 yuan accounted for 24.1% in the third quarter, an increase of 10.3 percentage points from the same period last year. On the one hand, due to the high prices of new products with larger sizes of 14 inches and above, which were mainly promoted by Xiaodu and iFlytek in the third quarter; On the other hand, the Bu Bu Gao and You schools, which previously focused on the mid to low end markets below 2000 yuan, have also begun to promote new products priced above 4000 yuan.
For the Youdao AI learning machine X20, some parents believe that it has multiple functions and advantages; However, another group of parents expressed that when purchasing educational hardware products, they will consider the most urgent needs. A mother of a primary school student in Chaoyang District told reporters that although the price of the Xueersi learning machine is as high as nearly 9000 yuan, many mothers in her parent group are attracted to the built-in Xueersi teaching content, which has previously cost tens of thousands of yuan, and are flocking to it.
Regarding the pricing and future price trends of learning machines, Zhou Feng explained to reporters, "Consumers' purchasing power is indeed relatively low now, so Youdao needs to be able to 'endure some hardship', and Youdao's supplier partners should also support it together. The entire industry is a chain, so the temporary downturn will be transmitted from consumers to manufacturers, and then to the backend supply chain. If everyone can face reality together and 'endure some hardship' together, they can withstand the cycle."
According to the reporter's understanding, in order to help channel and supplier better understand the product, the product launch event on Youdao's day also invited many channel, sales, supplier and other partners.
Can Youdao break through the encirclement
The track is crowded, can there be a breakthrough in the education hardware track?
In the first three quarters of 2023, Youdao's intelligent hardware performance was not ideal. On a quarterly basis, the revenue of Youdao's intelligent hardware business in Q1, Q2, and Q3 of 2023 was 213 million yuan, 222 million yuan, and 252 million yuan, respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 16%, 7.4%, and 29.3%. Regarding the decline in performance of intelligent hardware, NetEase Youdao stated that it has reduced the marketing channels for low return on investment intelligent learning products.
Zhou Feng stated in an interview that the decline in hardware business revenue is still a problem with channel restructuring. Youdao is rapidly undergoing changes to the entire channel system, which will have some impact on sales.
"The overall consumer electronics market is still sluggish this year, and Youdao is actively trying to find ways to accelerate the launch of new products. Youdao's AI learning machine X20 is the first new product of the year, and there will be multiple new products launched in the first quarter of 2024. These new products will also consider user needs, Youdao's ability to build large models, and users' new preferences for educational hardware products." Zhou Feng frankly stated that users are now very practical and do not buy fancy products. Youdao will definitely take this issue seriously.
It is worth noting that incorporating AI big models has become an important method for educational companies to differentiate their hardware. In July 2023, Youdao launched the first education model in China, "Ziyue", and simultaneously implemented six major applications. In October and November of the same year, it passed the algorithm evaluation and the national "dual new" evaluation. After a gap of 5 months, Daozi suggested upgrading the big model to version 2.0.
Zhou Feng stated that in addition to parameter improvements, the "Confucius" Big Model 2.0 has added RAG functionality, computational algebra, and other capabilities, which make it difficult to overcome challenges in industries such as mathematics and physics. "A very good solution has been found, and internal evaluation data shows that the accuracy index of the solution is relatively leading in the industry."
Regarding NetEase's hardware business, Zhou Feng stated that the upgrade of the "Confucius said" education model, such as the RAG function Youdao, took 5 months. As the product functions become more mature and the indicators improve, we believe that the promotion of hardware business will become more and more obvious.