Comparing the tablet market to a classroom, Lenovo's goal is to become the top student. This was the bold statement made by Zhang Hua, Senior Vice President of Lenovo Group and General Manager of its China Consumer Business Group, during a recent media briefing focused on the company's AI-enabled tablets. At the event, Lenovo elaborated on its hybrid AI strategy and the "One Ecosystem, Multiple Devices" approach of its Tianxi AI platform, describing the tablet as a "natural container for AI." The company also highlighted that it is currently the only manufacturer whose tablets have achieved the highest L3 certification under China's national AI standards.
Four senior executives responsible for technology and consumer business were present at the briefing to field questions from the media: Jia Zhaohui, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Innovation; Zhang Hua; Chen Ke, Vice President and General Manager of the Tablet Business Unit; and Li Weichang, Vice President and General Manager of China's Consumer PC and Smart Device Business. The core question they faced was straightforward: in a tablet market already crowded with players, what new narrative can AI truly deliver?
Tablets are not simply "AI-enabled" but "rebuilt for AI"
The first new AI story revolves around the products themselves. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has officially issued a national standard grading the intelligence of AI terminal devices. Level L3, described as "assisted intelligence," is currently the highest published tier, requiring capabilities such as comprehensive understanding, autonomous task decomposition, multimodal generation, and long-term and short-term memory. Lenovo is the sole tablet maker to have passed all tests and obtained this certification. The Legion Y900 series, repeatedly highlighted during the briefing, is positioned by Lenovo as a "native AI tablet designed for university students" and is currently the only tablet product to meet the top L3 national AI standard.
"I see the L3 national standard not merely as a product testing criterion, but as a benchmark marking the transition of AI devices from tools to intelligent companions," Jia Zhaohui stated at the meeting. He attributed Lenovo's exclusive achievement of the L3 rating to three factors: persistent technological innovation, a commitment to developing practical AI for users, and the cultivation of a robust ecosystem. One test question from the national standard illustrates the complexity involved: a user must use a shopping app on the tablet to repurchase a movie ticket bought previously. This seemingly simple task requires a coordinated effort across software architecture, hardware, and applications, involving model adjustments, agent connectivity, and tool orchestration.
Lenovo's approach to addressing this involves creating an AI "digital twin" for users. "This vision must be implemented in phases, and we are currently in the first phase," Jia Zhaohui acknowledged. He explained that the outcome of this initial phase is a technology stack reconstructed around the three core elements of AI—data, compute, and algorithms—to support the overall development of the personal AI twin. "The tablet, under this strategy, is what we believe to be a natively intelligent product built upon this new technology stack." Jia Zhaohui also noted that different companies take different paths in AI development. "Installing an AI app on a device, we call '+AI'. Redesigning the system from the ground up based on AI's strengths, we call 'AI+'." He emphasized that the goal of AI popularization boils down to three principles: being accessible, being affordable, and being effective.
The solution to "affordability" lies within the latest version of the Tianxi AI platform. Zhang Hua revealed that the Tianxi AI 4.3 version, released in early September, has fully realized its "device-edge-cloud" architecture. Users can store high-sensitivity data and information in private spaces on their device or edge servers. Daily tasks are handled by end-devices like tablets, while edge devices, such as Lenovo's AI host computers, can maximize local execution for complex tasks. Only more generalized, larger tasks are delegated to the cloud. This approach not only safeguards privacy but also reduces token consumption significantly. According to Lenovo's projections, 80% of future token usage will occur locally. This version also introduces autonomous agent task execution, dubbed "Super Mode," where users can simply assign a task and the system completes it independently. Furthermore, it achieves integration across multiple devices in three key areas: unified databases, shared AI context between devices, and seamless task execution and handoff.
Discussing specific interactions, Chen Ke provided concrete examples of improvements to the stylus. He noted that many styluses on the market appear similar, with competition focused on hardware specs, pressure sensitivity, and price. "From Lenovo's perspective, that's just the baseline." Lenovo has developed its own handwriting interaction protocol, allowing users to write instantly and erase by simply flipping the stylus. When a user circles English academic text with the stylus, the system uses context to offer translation or explanation options. Circling an extended chart automatically extracts key data points. Lenovo defines a true AI tablet not just by having an AI compute foundation and the ability to run generative AI locally, but also by possessing operating system-level AI capabilities and multimodal interaction. Within its broader "One Ecosystem, Multiple Devices" strategy, the tablet serves as the "natural container for AI."
Aiming for the Top Spot in the Tablet Class
The second new story presented at the briefing concerned market performance. According to Li Weichang, Lenovo's China tablet sales grew 70% year-on-year in the last quarter, with revenue up 165%. "If we compare the tablet market to a classroom, Lenovo's goal is to become the top student," Zhang Hua reiterated. As Lenovo's high-end offering in the 13-inch large-screen segment, the Legion Y900 saw university students account for over 50% of initial buyers, and sales during the back-to-school season increased by 30.8%. In this growing segment, identified by IDC, the Legion Y900 13's market share in the 13-inch tablet category jumped from 6.5% to 25.9%. "Premium isn't about selling an existing product at a higher price; it's about creating additional value for the customer that other manufacturers haven't addressed," Li Weichang explained. "Customers are willing to pay for that extra value, and that defines true premium."
The development of the popular Y700 Wuji tablet was cited as a prime example of Lenovo's user co-creation model. Zhang Hua described the company's internal innovation framework as "two-pole driven," with one pole being technological innovation and the other being user experience. He mentioned that the new Y700 Wuji features a "Super Core Community" built directly into the product, turning it into a platform for fan engagement. "Users interact with our products and give us real-time feedback on needs and areas for improvement. This allows us to gather first-hand information, synthesize common requirements, and even act on specific details. Some details may seem minor today, but they could become significant points of improvement." In terms of user orientation, Li Weichang revealed that the Y700 Wuji underwent 1,000 rounds of research during its development and definition phase. To better understand the real-world usage scenarios of university students, Lenovo's product managers even went to campuses, sat in on classes, and observed students as if they were learners themselves. Within Lenovo, the Legion tablet line now accounts for over 50% of the company's total tablet mix.
Chen Ke again emphasized their focus on learning environments. "Our team visited universities to see how students use tablets and computers. We found that a very high proportion of students use tablets, but they sometimes get distracted in class due to the device's interactivity," he said, noting that students often use the phrase "breaking flow." He previewed that future tablets, combined with Tianxi AI, will be able to push class schedule-based knowledge points upon entering a classroom, allow for one-touch recording, sync photos taken on a phone, and automatically compile all of this into a rich-text set of lecture notes using a large model at the end of the class. To ensure continuous experience improvement, Chen Ke introduced Lenovo's "Monthly Renewal" program, which pushes new Tianxi AI experiences to users each month and utilizes the Super Core Community to create a data feedback loop. "As far as I know, we are the only tablet manufacturer doing this consistently," he stated. This program represents the practical implementation of what Zhang Hua calls "user experience-driven" development on the product side. Beyond this, Lenovo's competitive moat also includes combining on-device models with heterogeneous computing, enabling seamless connectivity across tablets, AI PCs, and smartphones, and consistently providing useful tools within its AI application layer.
Looking ahead, Lenovo is accelerating its product refresh cycle. Zhang Hua revealed that the Tianxi AI 4.5 version will be launched in October, integrating AI programming capabilities alongside other anticipated features. Li Weichang added that the October launch event will debut a software-hardware integrated solution for content creators, supporting local short video production. Additionally, for the K12 education segment, the Xiaoxin tablet line will introduce a new model next quarter featuring three display modes: standard LCD, monochrome e-ink, and color e-ink.
Comments