The new "Chicken Baby Artifact" is selling well! Is the built-in recorded course compliant?

Since the implementation of the "double reduction" policy, some parents have found learning machines as a new way of "chicken child". A learning machine can contain thousands of full subject courses, covering all subjects from primary school to high school, and students can choose to study on their own. Does the learning machine manufacturer providing course content violate regulations under such "training"?

In terms of sales, currently popular learning machine brands on the market include iFlytek, Xueersi, Xiwo, etc., with prices ranging from 1000 to 5000 yuan.

According to Zhongxin Jingwei, many learning machines contain videos of general subject learning, which students and parents can choose to watch on their own. On a promotional page of iFlytek's learning machine, there are also many student cases, such as a first grade elementary school student who said "the school has not yet offered English classes, but English listening has reached the level of fifth and sixth grade students.".

Zhongxin Jingwei consulted customer service representatives from various brands of learning machines as consumers. Customer service representatives from iFlytek, Xueersi, Homework Help, and others stated that the courses provided on the learning machines are recorded and cover most versions of textbooks. Among them, some learning machines have built-in video courses, while others provide cloud resources that can be connected to the internet for online on-demand.

The Ministry of Education recently issued the "Interim Measures for Administrative Punishments of Off campus Training", which clearly states that institutions carrying out subject training beyond the standard in advance are considered violations, and if the circumstances are serious, their licenses may be revoked. If students can advance their learning through recorded classes on the learning machine, does the learning machine provide conditions for non compliant training? China News Service called Beijing and other places for consultation.

A staff member surnamed Hou from the off campus training department of the Dongcheng District Education Commission in Beijing told China News Service that the prerequisite for violating regulations in training is to meet the definition of "training", which must include direct interaction between students and teachers. Online live teaching falls under the scope of training, while watching recorded courses through learning machines does not count. She stated that this definition method applies to the entire Beijing city.

The above-mentioned staff stated that in recent years, the education department has also paid attention to the prevalence of learning machines in the market. Due to the unified recording of courses inside the learning machines, it is easy for some parents to be dissatisfied with the course content due to differences in textbooks, teaching methods of teachers, and teaching levels. "However, we understand the courses in the learning machine as product specific and not as training."

The staff of the off campus training supervision department of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education also stated that the definition of training needs to be linked to teacher-student interaction. "At present, some parents are collecting learning materials online and encouraging their children to learn in advance. We do not recommend parents to be overly anxious, but we cannot prohibit all parents from doing so," the staff said.

IFLYTEK told China News Service that its AI learning machine provides 12 courses, including elementary school mathematics, English, middle school mathematics, physics, etc; The AI function of the learning machine can recommend learning paths based on individual student situations. IFLYTEK did not respond to the question raised by Zhongxin Jingwei regarding the possibility of users having advanced learning and recording courses.

Who is making money behind the trillion dollar market?

When it comes to learning machines, many people's first reaction is no longer that they are "little tyrants" or "can't click anywhere". In recent years, more new terms have become promotional points for learning machines, such as AI empowerment, fingertip Q&A, paper-based eye protection, and smart learning. Brands that focus on these functions have gained a foothold in the market.

In the first half of 2023, iFlytek's revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders both decreased, with a decrease of over 70% in net profit attributable to shareholders. The company explained that this was due to increased strategic investment in the general artificial intelligence cognitive model, which affected current profits. However, the revenue of iFlytek's education products and services sector was 2.285 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.63%, accounting for 29.14% of the total revenue. It is also the sector with the highest gross profit margin in iFlytek's business, at 48.64%.

IFLYTEK stated that the gross profit of AI learning machine sales increased by 60% year-on-year in the first half of this year; After the support of the big model in May and June, the total sales of learning machines increased by 136% and 217% year-on-year, respectively.

As one of the representatives of traditional learning machines, Shulang, who went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2022, fell out of the competition. The company suffered a net loss of 37.9 million yuan in the first half of 2023, with revenue declining by 51.5% to 125 million yuan. Among them, personal student tablet revenue was 104 million yuan, less than half of the same period last year. The company stated that one of the main reasons for the decrease in student tablet sales is that companies from other industries have joined the education electronics industry, intensifying competition pressure in the industry.

Education and training institutions have also taken a different approach after the "double reduction" and set their sights on the learning machine track. At present, TAL Education's subsidiary Xueersi has launched a learning machine, Ape Tutoring has launched Little Ape Learning and Training Machine, and Homework Help has also launched a learning machine. The built-in courses are derived from Homework Help's live classes and presented in the form of recorded classes within the learning machine.

According to this year's 618 Tiktok e-commerce list, XRS, Xiaodu, Little Ape and iFLYTEK ranked the top four in the list of popular learning machines. As of June 18th, Xueersi's sales of learning machines reached 55000 units. Based on a pricing of 4599 yuan, the cumulative sales exceeded 250 million yuan. Zhongxin Jingwei noticed that in the live broadcast room of Xueersi, the host strongly recommends the built-in courses of the learning machine, stating that "courses from preschool to senior high school have been opened.".

During the 2023 annual performance conference, Peng Zhuangzhuang, President and Chief Financial Officer of TAL, stated that if defined in a narrow sense as an intelligent learning tablet, it is expected that the total annual market shipment will be approximately 4 to 5 million units, and with the addition of General tablets, it may exceed 10 million units; For TAL, this is an important market.

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, TAL's revenue was $275 million, with an operating loss of $57.773 million, an increase of 104% year-on-year. Regarding the issue of learning machines, China News Service has released an interview outline for TAL Education, but no response has been received as of the time of publication.

The 2022 China Education Intelligent Hardware Industry Report released by Duojing Education Research Institute shows that with the implementation of the dual reduction policy and the transfer of traditional training demand, it is expected that the learning machine market will reach nearly 100 billion yuan in three years.

Industry: Learning machines pose a risk of being marginalized

At present, the education intelligent hardware market, with learning machines as one of the core products, is gaining popularity. According to the "2022 China Education Intelligent Hardware Market and User Insights Report" by iResearch Consulting, the scale of China's consumer level education intelligent hardware market has increased from 24.9 billion yuan in 2019 to 43.1 billion yuan in 2022, and is expected to reach 49.8 billion yuan in 2023.

The above report states that in recent years, the supply and demand sides of student tablets have shown explosive growth, which has further activated the market space for comprehensive products; The student tablet with built-in educational resources has become an outlet for some families to transfer their educational anxiety. From the perspective of category characteristics, student tablets account for more than 30% of the overall market share of educational intelligent hardware, with characteristics such as large market space, high average order value, and long user lifecycle.

However, there are also hidden concerns in the industry about the popularity of learning machines. Researcher Chu Chaohui from the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences told China News Service that due to the difference between learning machines and off campus tutoring, the interactivity is relatively low, and the learning effect is also different from that of training institutions. Therefore, it is currently difficult to determine the extent of the positive potential of learning machines. "The development of learning content is related to students' learning status, needs, etc. No company may be able to meet the needs of all students."

Xiong Bingqi, the director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, stated in an interview with China News Service that although learning machines are not currently classified as illegal training, there is still a risk of being sidelined. "In the future, if it is deemed that learning machines belong to disguised training, it is not ruled out that relevant departments will strengthen their supervision."

Xiong Bingqi emphasized that if learning machine brands operate in the pursuit of high scores, there will inevitably be a phenomenon of homogenization. "In the past, online education also had homogenization, teaching knowledge points for exam preparation and further education. Nowadays, learning machines also have similar problems, which is not conducive to long-term sustainable development."

"From the perspective of establishing a healthy education ecosystem, I don't want learning machines to be too popular in the market. It is even more important for students to learn in a diversified way and according to their interests and hobbies," said Chu Chaohui.