Chinese Smart Learning Tools Start Ups Spin Big Money

Tech-powered learning tools for children are spawning a potential multi billion-dollar global market for Chinese start ups, China Daily reported Monday

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jan, 2019 ) :Tech-powered learning tools for children are spawning a potential multi billion-dollar global market for Chinese start ups, China Daily reported Monday.

Industry sales in 2018 were estimated to reach 80 million U.S. Dollars in China alone, almost 10.8 percent of the global total, the newspaper cited a report from Chinese education tech firm JMDedu as saying.

In addition to robots, wearable devices like kids digital wrist watches are popular among parents in China, the newspaper said, citing International Data Corp that there are at least 500 smart kids watch firms now in the country.

Over five million children in more than 140 countries have been using educational robots or intelligent hardware made by Chinese startup Makeblock.

Its sales of 2017 reached 203 million Yuan (29.6 million U.S. dollars), 70 percent of which came from overseas, the newspaper said.

Lyu Senlin, founder and chief researcher at the Learn easy Times Online Education Research Institute, an industry research consultancy, was quoted as saying that intelligent hardware has a long way to go in China, in terms of application of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Lyu predicted that educational robots and companion robots will still act as digital assistantsfor a long time to come, and it remains to be seen whether the emerging market will spawnsome iconic brands.