On April 10th, Huawei’s official Weibo account for consumer tech products teased a new release featuring the theme “Light and Powerful” with a poster for the upcoming Huawei MateBook X Pro. Its emerging features hint at a blend of innovation in design, portability, and a promise of something “powerful”. Could this be in reference to the device’s specifications, performance, or a unique selling point set to redefine user experience?
Considering the latest trends in the notebook industry and information leaked by external media, many speculate that this new Huawei notebook might be equipped with the powerful Huawei “Pangu” AI model. This addition could potentially thrust Huawei into the AI PC market, propelling the brand to a leading position.
What exactly is an “AI PC”? An AI PC refers to a computer with integrated hybrid AI processing units capable of running “large personal models” locally, creating personalized local knowledge bases, and enabling multimodal human-computer interaction. It’s essentially a PC designed to function as a tailored personal AI assistant to improve productivity and streamline work processes. Put simply, it’s a PC deeply integrated with AI technology.
Over the past decades, thanks to breakthroughs in “computing and application technology” and “internet and communication technology,” PCs underwent two significant revolutions, becoming an indispensable tool for productivity. However, as the PC industry reached near-saturation after evolving from desktop to laptop and then to tablets, it has been facing a lack of innovation, with the traditional PC demand driven more by natural replacement cycles.
Now, as we navigate another breakthrough era with AI’s large model technology transforming our personal and professional lives and accelerating intelligence transformation across industries, the AI model technologies need compatible hardware platforms for wider adoption and practical application. Intelligent devices, the ultimate interface for AI to reach end-users, are becoming a critical focus for future AI development and implementation efforts. The natural synergy between AI large models and PCs has given rise to the AI PC, which is set to ignite a new wave of transformation in the PC arena.
Industry experts generally view 2024 as the “inaugural year for large model applications,” with AI PCs emerging as significant carriers for scaling up and mainstreaming AI applications. IDC predicts that by 2027, AI PCs will account for up to 85% of China’s total PC shipments.
Under the momentum of AI technology, the PC industry is undergoing a revolutionary change. Leading manufacturers are launching AI-integrated PC products to gain an early foothold in the burgeoning AI market, and Huawei is a major participant in this evolution.
Not long ago, Huawei announced a comprehensive strategy for intelligence, aiming to build China’s robust computing foundation. In this grand vision, PCs play an integral role as end-side computing units and form a core component of intelligent office scenarios within Huawei’s smart all-scenario strategic layout.
Looking back at Huawei’s PC lineup, the brand’s exploration of AI has always been rooted in its DNA for innovation. Since launching their first laptop and establishing an intelligent PC ecosystem, Huawei has blended intelligent genes with AI capabilities, aiming to generate new scenarios and fields through the connection and interoperability of AI, big data technologies with products like smartphones and PCs, which in turn energizes the entire PC industry.
In 2016, to meet the requirements of the trendy new business era, Huawei introduced the Mate 8 + MateBook business combo, laying the groundwork for its all-scenario intelligent office ecosystem. In 2017, the AI algorithm and cross-device connectivity were integrated into the Huawei PC experience, courtesy of features like Huawei Share and independent fingerprint recognition technology using an encryption chip. By 2018, Huawei Share 3.0 upgraded to further enhance the breaking down of hardware ecosystem barriers and connect a smarter lifestyle, with smart temperature control AI algorithms incorporated into the PC’s fundamental design. The year 2019 saw the introduction of Multi-Screen Collaboration, a first in the industry to “connect” smartphones with PCs. Come 2021, the Huawei intelligent PC introduced a mobile application engine, breaking down software ecosystem barriers and expanding all-scenario office interaction on PCs.
2022 marked the advent of the “Super Device” which enabled seamless collaboration between PCs, smartphones, tablets, headphones, smart screens, etc., enhancing Huawei’s intelligent office experience. That same year, Huawei’s self-developed AI was widely applied in PC conferencing scenarios, elevating the user experience with AI Vision and AI Sound. The popular intelligent voice features from Huawei phones were also introduced to PCs, offering functionalities like AI subtitles, real-time transcription, and audio-video file transcription. In 2023, AI applications were further enhanced with intelligent summaries and voice features, delivering an entirely new human-computer interaction experience, and SuperTurbo 2.0 upgrades provided comprehensive intelligent scheduling management for underlying hardware capabilities.
For 2024, it’s shaping up to be a year of reaping the rewards. Thanks to its sustained innovation, Huawei has gained recognition from the industry and consumers alike, maintaining its top spot in China’s thin-and-light laptop market. For Huawei, smart interaction has been a long-standing pursuit. AI is not a distant dream but a deeply integrated aspect of an incremental innovation process; AI is already woven into every aspect of our digital lives.
While other manufacturers are still struggling to find their “entry ticket” to this new era, Huawei’s intelligent PCs are primed and ready to embrace the AI age. Entering the foundational year for AI PC development, Huawei, with its early entry advantage, is undoubtedly set to leverage this opportunity to its full potential in its latest flagship products.
Unlike traditional PCs, AI PCs offer five key features: personalized experiences tailored to individual users (“thousands of faces” for thousands of devices), natural language interactions, embedded smart hybrid computing power, an open ecosystem, and ensured data privacy and security. These attributes are poised to deliver innovative value experiences in work, study, and daily living.
For instance, in work scenarios, AI PCs can assist with professional document creation, graphics, and audio production, enhancing work efficiency. In educational contexts, they can provide personalized learning solutions, smartly assigning learning tasks to improve study efficacy. In day-to-day life, AI PCs can become personal travel assistants, proactively managing ticket bookings and crafting personalized travel itineraries, among other benefits.
As the AI PC era surges forward, smarter devices are breaking conventional application boundaries, democratizing AI technology to enrich the lives of everyone. This transformation opens up boundless possibilities for work, living, and learning scenarios, leading us toward a more intelligent and interconnected future.
With the Huawei MateBook X Pro powered by the Huawei Pangu large model, what new AI-driven experiences can we anticipate? We look forward to unveiling the future of intelligent computing!