Home » NetEase Ding Lei’s 15-year educational dream has brightened the light of intelligent learning in Wuzhen

NetEase Ding Lei’s 15-year educational dream has brightened the light of intelligent learning in Wuzhen

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Every September is the most beautiful time of the year in Wuzhen, where the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River and the sunset are reflected, and the annual Wuzhen World Internet Conference is held here.

At this year’s Wuzhen World Internet Conference with the theme of “New Era of Digital Civilization-Join Hands to Build a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace”, education has become an indispensable and important part.

During the conference,NetEase YoudaoBringing the latest smart education hardware products to Wuzhen, bringing a smart education feast.

Youdao dictionary pen with “sweeping words” has become an indispensable tool for many English learners.Nowadays,NetEase YoudaoBrings a new product-You Dao TingLippo, Designed to help English learners overcome listening and speaking problems.

  ▲NetEase YoudaoExhibition site at Wuzhen Internet Light Expo

Under the “double reduction” policy in 2021, the smart education hardware industry has once again attracted the attention of enterprises and capital, and is expected to bring a market of 100 billion yuan into the track of education informatization in advance.

As a player who has been deeply involved in the field of smart education hardware for many years,NetEaseHow does Youdao view the opportunities and new competition under the drastic changes in the industry? How to seize the championship through product and strategic layout? Recently, we came to the site of Wuzhen for a first-line visit.

  1. Re-innovate categories: “black technology” to help children practice hearing

Teacher’s Day in 2019 has just passed,NetEaseCEO Ding Lei sat in the office and wrote a letter to English teachers across the country.

In the letter, Ding Lei said: “I undoubtedly cannot be a teacher, but I understand technology and the Internet. So over the years, we have doneNetEaseEducational products such as open classes and NetEase Youdao Dictionary. “Ding Lei announced that a brand-new dictionary pen product has been officially launched, and English teachers across the country can get a free one. This is the first time that the smart hardware category of smart dictionary pens has appeared on the Chinese market.

Today, two years have passed. Ding Lei’s dictionary pen has benefited 50,000+ teachers and entered 600+ schools, which has increased the efficiency of many children in learning English and looking up words several times.At the same time, this new category also opens a new track that can accommodate hundreds of players. Youdao dictionary pen has become TmallJingdongThe two consecutive championships.

With the spread of the dictionary pen market, Youdao’s smart learning product matrix has also been enriched.During the recent Wuzhen World Internet Conference, Youdao launched a new hardware product for English listening learning-Youdao ListeningLippo. This product is designed to solve the problems encountered by English learners such as “not understanding, not keeping up, not being able to read, and not being able to speak”.

This hardware is the same as a compact mobile phone, but compared to using APP on the mobile phone to practice English listening, it is a good way to listen.LippoMainly offline learning, providing an immersive learning environment. That is, the content is updated when online, and the network is disconnected when using it. This is conducive to creating an atmosphere of concentration for students who are not strong in self-control.

Behind many years of attention to language learning, you have discovered that parents hope that their children will no longer just learn a bite.“Dumb English”, But to apply English to life scenes and even into various scenes in society.So is there a good product that can provide English listening and speaking learning?Good method, good content, good tools

Based on this thinking, Youdao Hearing Bao came into being.

Unlike previous repeaters, MP3s, and CDs, Hearingbao will bring users a systematic learning method. In short, it includesGrading test, target setting, listening and oral training, special learning and listening testFive modules, called5S adaptive learning method. Set learning goals according to the child’s English level, provide a personalized and immersive learning experience, use AI for evaluation and correction, and set up special training such as digital training and continuous reading training, and finally realize the closed-loop learning through the listening test.

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Netease Ding Lei’s 15-year educational dream, a way to light up intelligent learning in Wuzhen

  In addition to the above-mentioned learning methods, authority and a large amount of good content are indispensable.Listening treasure has built-in teaching materials such as Chongqing University, Beijing Normal University, Guangdong People’s Publishing House, and 4,500+ listening learning repertoires, over 800 hours of listening time, and over a million sentences to follow. In addition, there are world-renowned “Red Rocket” and other graded reading materials, and support 200G unlimited speed cloud disk autobiographical content.

Wu Yinghui, senior vice president of NetEase Youdao, said: “For this product, we expect it to be the same as a dictionary pen, bringing a brand new experience and feeling to language learning users.”

Wu Yinghui recalled to us that when the dictionary pen was first introduced three years ago, no one in China knew what it was. In the second half of 2019, the sales of this small thing that can recognize words by scanning the textbook content has risen sharply. By the beginning of 2021, more than 100 companies have poured into this market. With the entry of new players, Youdao’s lead did not stop.

Recently, in the following andDisneyCo-launchFrozen Co-branded Youdao Dictionary PenLater, on September 1, Youdao also signed a strategic cooperation with the People’s Education Society and jointly releasedPeople teach you a dictionary penThis is the first case in the country. Because the People’s Education Society has high requirements for the content of the courses, based on years of accumulation in the education field, after nearly a quarter of planning, this cooperation has finally been finalized.

It can be seen that NetEase Youdao’s smart education hardware products are entering the home and school scenarios more deeply.

Under this year’s “double reduction” policy, Wu Yinghui expressed higher expectations for new products. He believes that the trend of informatization of education has become more prominent. What Youdao does is to integrate AI with content to promote learning efficiency in learning scenarios, which fits this general direction.

  2. Under the “double reduction”, the king of intelligent education hardware track is emerging

Since 2021, with the release of “Double Reduction” (“Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Students’ Homework and Off-campus Training in Compulsory Education”), off-campus education and online education are in full swing under the 2020 epidemic. “Turn off”.

The “double reduction” policy proposes that “in the compulsory education stage, all regions will no longer approve new subject education and training institutions”; “approved institutions will be unified into’non-profit’ institutions” and other regulations, which hit online education, etc. Industry, but at the same time it also opens up some new channels.More resources flow to other tracks, and smart education hardware is one of them.

How big is the domestic education smart hardware market?

IiMedia Consulting has a report in 2021 that shows that the domestic education smart hardware market will reach 34.3 billion yuan in 2020, and it is expected to expand to 45.3 billion yuan in 2021, and it is expected to be close to 100 billion yuan by 2024. At the moment, as the “double reduction” policy urges more resources and players to enter the market, this 100 billion-level market is expected to arrive ahead of schedule.

Looking at the players on this track in recent years, they are mainly divided into three categories: the first category isBackgammon, Xiaotiancai and other traditional players, the second category is Tencent,BaiduAnd other Internet companies, the third category is NetEase Youdao, intelligent industry players with both Internet genes and years of education.

Under the “double reduction” policy, withGood futurePlayers in the K12 education field, such as, Xueersi, and Yuanjiao, also fancy the smart education hardware track. The cake in this field is expected to become bigger and the competition will become more intense.

Wu Yinghui said that at the beginning of this year, nearly 100 companies suddenly poured into the smart dictionary pen track. For Youdao, fortunately, Youdao did not deploy after “double reduction”, but as a pioneer, focusing on this field as early as four years ago.

Since the launch of Youdao Translation Egg in October 2017, NetEase Youdao has launched more than a dozen products, including Youdao Translation King 2.0 Pro, Youdao Pocket Printer, Youdao Dictionary Pen 2.0, Youdao Smart Pen, Youdao Cloud pen, Youdao Super Dictionary, Youdao Dictionary Pen 3, etc.Among them, Youdao Dictionary Pen won the commendation of the “People’s Choice Ingenuity Product Award” in 2019, and became a Tmall and Tmall for two consecutive years on Double Eleven in 2019, 618 and Double Eleven in 2020.JingdongSales champion in platform electronic dictionary category.

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According to NetEase Youdao’s 2021 Q2 financial report, the net income of its smart hardware-based learning products was 206 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 138.8%. This sector has become Youdao’s second-largest revenue sector since last year. Wu Yinghui told us that the team attaches great importance to the R&D investment in AI, chips and other technologies.

Wu Yinghui believes that the current smart education hardware market is still at a relatively early stage. When there are more new players, there will be competition. But he believes that this kind of competition is not homogenized low-end competition, but continuous high-end competition.

For parents, they need good products for their children’s supplies and are willing to buy better things for their children. As a company, the dimensions of continuous competition will focus on the following three aspects:

1. Continue to accumulate educational resources and content.

2. Promote AI technology closer to practical applications.

3. The user’s understanding of the scene.

Wu Yinghui said that since Netease Youdao was founded in 2006, education has been serious.

  Three or fifteen years of hard work, NetEase’s Taoist Dao and Skills

The establishment of NetEase Youdao in 2006 was the first step for NetEase to lay out the educational track.

Since its establishment, NetEase Youdao has been committed to becoming a full-chain education company. In 2014, Youdao officially entered the Internet education industry; in 2017, Youdao officially deployed the smart education hardware track. Afterwards, Youdao also quickly improved in terms of capital. In 2018, Youdao completed the first strategic financing of US$1.12 billion and became one of the unicorns. In 2019, Youdao was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and became the group’s first independent listed company.

Looking back on the development history of Youdao Smart Learning Hardware Product Matrix in recent years, Wu Yinghui told us that Youdao currently has three major businesses, except for the national-level application Youdao Dictionary, Youdao Translator, etc., which are used by 900 million people. Tool apps, online course platforms including quality education and adult lifelong education, and smart learning hardware products that this article focuses on sharing.

It is worth mentioning that Wu Yinghui believes that the reason why NetEase Youdao was able to stabilize in the “double reduction” trend is inseparable from its choice of walking on multiple legs at the beginning. In addition to K12 education, it is used in adult education and intelligent education hardware. , Quality education and other fields have made advance arrangements.

When it comes to the basic idea of ​​making smart learning hardware, Wu Yinghui believes that it can be called“Troika”-AI + content + hardware

From a genetic point of view, at the beginning of the company’s establishment, it has been focusing on problem-solving tools. With the accumulation of content and experience in the education field, as well as the development and application of AI technology, Youdao’s new products today are not entirely Tools are learning products that integrate AI technology and content. Different from the “use and go” tool, these products will accompany teachers and students in the long-term learning process and have a profound impact. And these troikas are also the three dimensions in which market players will continue to compete as mentioned by Wu Yinghui.

With the “double reduction” policy, the smart education hardware track has become hot and crowded. In the face of challenging competition, Wu Yinghui believes that Youdao’s confidence lies in its deep accumulation and advanced strategy at the product, technology, and market levels.

  At the product and technical levelTake the first to create a new category of dictionary pens in 2019 as an example. What everyone can feel is the millisecond-level ultra-fast search, with an accuracy rate of more than 99%, and a super large dictionary of 3.27 million. Behind it is its optical character recognition. (OCR), speech recognition & synthesis, adaptive learning data analysis and other advanced AI technologies. It can be traced back to the “Youdao Translation” launched in 2007, which currently covers 800 million users. Behind it is the neural network translation technology that has been developed and innovative for many years, and it also provides the technology and user base for its innovative products such as dictionary pens.

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In the field of smart hardware products, technical and product barriers can often be attributed to time barriers.

For example, for many new players, building hardware actually requires a lot of courage. As Wu Yinghui said, because of the long hardware investment cycle, it usually takes 7 to 8 months to make a product, which is like planting a seed, and it takes a year to have a harvest. Youdao spent four years before doing this conceptual exploration. It is conceivable that some players who are eager for the trend of intelligent education hardware, if the hardware that has not been polished over time is brought to the market at a low price, the very realistic situation is that the dictionary pen will not be used for children a few times, because it is not easy to use. .

Looking at the educational content again, if you use it a few times, you find that the words you want to find and the content you want to read in the smart listening practice device are too few, and there is no update, it is likely to be discarded.

  After talking about technology and products, let’s take a look at the market brand level., Youdao’s smart education hardware market is opened in online channels. It grasps the marketing rhythm in e-commerce festivals and school seasons such as 618 and Double 11 every year. It has become a Tmall,JingdongChampion. In 2020, the 618 electronic dictionary category ranked first on both JD.com and Tmall platforms. The sales of all platforms increased by 1644% year-on-year. NetEase Youdao’s dictionary pens even accounted for 80% of the total sales of JD’s dictionary pens.

In addition to online, Youdao’s offline channels are also developing rapidly. Currently, there are many dealers carrying out many experience activities across the country. At the level of public welfare education, Netease CEO Ding Lei presented Youdao dictionary pens to English teachers across the country three times, over 50,000 English teachers applied for it, and launched donations to children in the old red revolutionary area and other public welfare activities.

For the landing of smart technology products, it is not only necessary to have good technology, but also to be willing to pay for it. This is always the most simple and important appeal.

  Conclusion: After the “double reduction”, China’s smart education hardware can be expected to explode

The “double reduction” policy in 2021 will bring new opportunities to the smart education hardware track. At present, countless companies are squeezing in, and there are also players like NetEase Youdao who have been steadily and steadily increasing their territory expansion. The entry of multiple players is expected to allow everyone to work together to make the cake bigger.

Judging from the current product form of smart education hardware, it does not seem to be that important whether it is a pen, a lamp or a speaker. The important thing is how to integrate hardware, content and AI technology most closely, so as to help teachers in real scenes. Students improve learning efficiency and quality of experience.

It is worth mentioning that this market is still in its infancy, facing challenges including course content supply and homogeneous competition. But as Wu Yinghui said, parents need good products for children’s products and are willing to buy better things for their children. This is a big source of confidence in the industry.

In the long run, smart education hardware will not move towards a vicious competition situation of low-end products, but will witness the continuous competition of players in terms of education content, AI technology and user scenario understanding.

(Article source: Smart things)

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