Huawei believes that a true AI PC is a combination of a large model on the edge, the ability to integrate and fuse data on the edge, and the integration of computing power on both the edge and the cloud.

As various manufacturers are vying for a share in the AI PC market, on April 11th, during the Huawei HarmonyOS ecosystem spring communication meeting, the Huawei MateBook X Pro was launched, marking Huawei's first AI PC product.

Yu Chengdong, Huawei's Executive Director, CEO of the Terminal BG, and Chairman of the Smart Car Solution BU, introduced that this product is the first to apply Huawei's PanGu large model.

What sets Huawei's AI PC apart?

The Huawei MateBook X Pro has a thickness of only 13.5 millimeters and weighs just 980 grams, making it the only laptop under 1 kg to be equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 high-performance processor. Huawei's high-performance notebook has entered the "hundred-gram era."According to the introduction, the Huawei MateBook X Pro utilizes Huawei's self-developed Cloud Falcon architecture, which ensures performance while achieving the lightweight design of the notebook through multi-dimensional innovations in structure and materials, representing a solution that guarantees performance and realizes product lightweightness during the design process.

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On the other hand, the MateBook X Pro 2024 also opts for a flexible OLED display panel, further reducing the volume of the device. This PC model is also the world's first laptop to adopt a flexible OLED display panel. The flexible OLED panel has a resolution of 3120 x 2080, supports 10.7 billion colors, and can reach a peak brightness of 1000 nits.

In addition, the Huawei MateBook X Pro features an all-new Shark Fin cooling system. This cooling system, jointly developed by Huawei's 2012 Lab, Yokohama Research Institute, and Kiev Research Institute, has increased the overall heat dissipation capability by 37% compared to the previous generation.

The integration of AI technology has become one of the key factors driving the development of the PC industry. One of the highlights of Huawei's new notebook is AI.

In terms of large models, the MateBook X Pro is the first to apply Huawei's PanGu large model. According to Richard Yu, with the PanGu large model, the AI summary function can quickly and accurately extract key information from text, audio, and video content.

In addition to its own large model, the MateBook X Pro also integrates multiple third-party large models, incorporated into the AI Space entry. It is reported that the AI Space has initially introduced AI large models such as Baidu's Wenxin Yiyan, iFLYTEK's Xinghuo, and ZhiPu Qingyan, providing more than 100 AI large model agents, covering various scenarios including office work, learning, creation, and software development.

Secondly, at the application level, Huawei has also conducted research and development with upstream and downstream enterprises. For example, Huawei has collaborated with WPS to launch a series of AI features, including intelligent text layout, conversational operation of spreadsheets, and mind map conversion to PPT.

Furthermore, in terms of interconnectivity, by using the Super Device interconnectivity with other devices, the AI capabilities of the Huawei MateBook X Pro can be extended to smartphones, tablets, and other devices.Price section:

Ultra 7 16GB/1TB version: 11,199 yuan

Ultra 7 32GB/1TB version: 12,499 yuan

Ultra 9 32GB/2TB version: 14,999 yuan

Considering the pricing, the MateBook X Pro 2024 essentially maintains a similar configuration price scheme to its predecessor, both above ten thousand yuan. Although the improvements are in performance, display effect, and AI, all of which are closely related to the user experience, PC products above ten thousand yuan are still somewhat expensive.

How does Huawei view AI PCs?

At this stage, AI PCs require product definition, innovation, and the cultivation of user habits, needing to move from a technical concept to product application. At this time, as the new leader in domestic thin and light notebooks, how Huawei defines AI PCs is a topic of great concern to consumers and the entire industry. All eyes are on Huawei's smart PCs.

Huawei's thinking about AI PCs starts from the origin of AI. As everyone knows, the three elements of AI are algorithms, data, and computing power, and it is clear that AI PCs should also have all three.

As Zhu Dongdong, President of the Tablet and PC Product Line at Huawei's Terminal BG, said, a true AI PC is a very good large model on the edge + the ability to integrate and fuse data on the edge + the integration of computing power on the edge and in the cloud, enabling the PC to truly become intelligent.In other words, the AI PC in Huawei's vision is "large models + big data + high computing power." Huawei has also launched the MateBook X Pro, which combines three core competencies of "intelligent perception," "smart connectivity," and "smart creation."

Intelligent Perception

Intelligent perception is the foundation of AI PC interaction with the real world.

Perceiving the user is the primary task of an AI PC, and equipping AI devices for perception on an AI PC is almost a must-answer question for all terminal manufacturers.

Huawei's MateBook X Pro also achieves intelligent perception of the environment, devices, and information through the integration of advanced visual sensors, touch hardware, and AI capabilities such as intelligent interaction, algorithms, and scheduling. This perception ability transforms the PC from a cold machine into an intelligent partner that can understand and respond to user needs.

Take the online meeting scenario as an example; the AI Eye can optimize the line of sight through facial recognition technology and eye correction technology, presenting a natural eye contact effect in the video, making video calls as natural as face-to-face communication. At the same time, Smart Voice integrates Huawei's self-developed multi-role differentiation algorithm, which can accurately distinguish speakers during meetings, transcribe in real-time, and form AI minutes at the end of the meeting.

Smart Connectivity

Smart connectivity is a necessary guarantee for the AI PC user experience.

Smart interaction is also another core of smart office. In the past, although devices could achieve multi-screen collaboration, it was basically just a simple data exchange. The emergence of AI PCs has made it possible to further deepen the concept of device collaboration.

For example, the Huawei MateBook X Pro has achieved seamless collaboration with devices such as smartphones, tablets, headphones, and smart screens through the Super Terminal feature. Devices are no longer singular entities but can serve as functional modules for each other, helping each other with capabilities and sharing resources, making it as simple as using a single device. In addition, there are collaborative features such as the Super Transfer Station, Remote PC, and Smart Search, which together build a more powerful smart office experience for Huawei.Wisdom Creation

The PC, as the current unshakable "core productivity tool," still focuses on significantly enhancing office efficiency and creative passion through innovation.

One of the most significant features of the new Huawei MateBook X Pro is the first-time application of the Huawei PanGu large model on a notebook product, which brings obvious evolutionary advantages.

For instance, the intelligent voice recording can capture tens of thousands of words of meeting content. The AI summary, by analyzing the content, intelligently forms a one-sentence summary, extracts keywords, and provides a full-text summary. In this way, users can easily grasp the key points of the meeting. Moreover, it is not limited to recognizing text; local audio and video can also be processed by the PanGu large model.

During office work, with the help of WPS AI, it is possible to achieve intelligent text formatting, dialogue-based table operations, and the rapid conversion of mind maps into PPTs, all of which are smart functions. Additionally, the Huawei MateBook X Pro offers an "AI Space" feature, a one-stop AI capability aggregation portal where Huawei has integrated AI large models such as Baidu Wenxin Yiyan, iFLYTEK Xinghuo, and Zhipu Qingyan, covering various scenarios including office, learning, creation, and software development.

While many PC manufacturers are talking about large models on the device side, Huawei emphasizes the collaboration between the device and the cloud. The full-scene AI empowers Huawei's smart PC, integrating big data, large models, and substantial computing power into users' high-frequency usage scenarios, ultimately achieving a leap in productivity and creativity in the era of artificial intelligence.

AI PCs are booming

The application scenarios of AI PCs and AI large models currently have a high degree of overlap, and they are referred to as the "best carrier for large models." Chip processor manufacturers such as Qualcomm, AMD, and Intel have introduced processors specifically for AI PCs.

At present, tech giants are actively deploying AI PCs.Among upstream manufacturers, Intel has integrated NPU into the Core Ultra series, further supporting the iteration of AI computing power on the terminal side. Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD have also prepared more ammunition for this battlefield through different chip combinations.

Among downstream manufacturers, Microsoft, Apple, Lenovo, and others have defined the development milestones of AI PCs from multiple levels such as software, systems, and applications.

On the software level, Adobe, AutoDesk, Cyberlink, Luminar, and domestic companies like Kingsoft Office, Tencent, and Alibaba have all made preparations at the application level of AI PCs.

Apple took the lead in releasing the AI PC MacBook Air in early March. On March 18, Honor launched the company's first AI PC, the MagicBook Pro 16. On March 22, Microsoft announced the launch of the first batch of Surface AI PCs specifically designed for business users.

The industry generally believes that AI PCs will reshape the user's PC experience, profoundly change people's work and lifestyle, enhance efficiency in all scenarios, and will trigger a new round of PC replacement.

IDC predicts that in 2023, the proportion of new AI PCs in the Chinese PC market will only be 8.1%, and this proportion will increase significantly to 54.7% in 2024. It is expected to climb rapidly in the next few years, reaching 85% by 2027, becoming the mainstream of the PC market.

From the current perspective of the PC industry market pattern, Canalys data shows that the shipment volume of the Chinese mainland PC market in 2023 was 41.2 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 17%. Huawei was the only manufacturer among the top five in terms of shipment volume last year that achieved growth against the trend, with an increase of 11%. Other data shows that, as of the third quarter of last year, Huawei's share of the domestic thin and light notebook market has reached 25.2%, ranking first. The arrival of the new Huawei MateBook X Pro will undoubtedly further consolidate Huawei's market position.

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