The niche sports favored by the middle class have given rise to an AI hardware product.
After Zheng Qinwen won the championship at the Paris Olympics last year, tennis, a niche sport, became popular to a new height.
Data from the International Tennis Federation shows that the market size of the tennis sport in China reached 36.75 billion yuan in 2024. China accounts for 7.2% of the world's tennis courts and 19.8% of tennis participants, ranking second in the world in both aspects, only after the United States.
As the number of people playing tennis increases, there is a surge in the demand for tennis equipment, and many companies have seen the huge potential of this market.
There is an AI intelligent hardware product that has carved out a niche in this mature market - the intelligent tennis ball serving machine.
On the well - known overseas crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, there are currently 3 intelligent tennis ball serving machines launching crowdfunding campaigns. They are: Acemate incubated by Woan Robotics from China, Tenniix launched by the parent company of the overseas brand T - APEX, and Tinto launched by Lituo Sports from China.
Based on ordinary serving machines, these intelligent tennis ball serving machines generally add functions such as intelligent control, visual recognition, and AI training. They are priced relatively high, ranging from 4,000 to 10,000 yuan. They have been in fierce competition since the crowdfunding stage.
There are also products that have been mass - produced. The Pangbot intelligent tennis ball serving machine, which was extremely popular on Kickstarter at the end of last year and raised 2.56 million US dollars (approximately 18.38 million yuan), has recently gone on sale on domestic e - commerce platforms. The standard version is priced at 5,999 yuan, and the Pro version is 7,999 yuan.
Interestingly, among the companies targeting the intelligent tennis ball serving machine market, there are robotics companies like Woan Robotics and Chuangyi Technology (the parent company of Pangbot), traditional tennis equipment brands like Musketeer and Pushang, emerging brands focusing on this product like Veva and Tenniix, and sports industry belt enterprises like Lituo Sports.
They are scrambling to break into a new track: selling AI intelligent hardware to tennis enthusiasts as a "coach".
A niche sport with strong demand
Tennis is a niche sport in China, but there is a huge market behind it.
Data from the General Administration of Sport of China shows that there were 53,805 tennis courts in China in 2024. Although it seems like a large number, it pales in comparison to the more than one million basketball and table - tennis courts.
Despite the limited number of tennis courts, the number of tennis players is growing at a very fast pace. Data from the General Administration of Sport of China shows that the number of tennis players reached 25.188 million in 2024, a 28% increase compared to 2021. Such a rapid growth rate is driven by the expanding market demand.
Different from other sports, tennis has relatively high requirements for sports equipment. Tennis enthusiasts have to spend a significant amount on shoes, balls, and rackets at the beginning. In addition, novice players need professional coaching from beginners to advanced levels. The hourly coaching fees ranging from 100 to 500 yuan and the court fees of 100 to 200 yuan make the fixed cost of a tennis lesson quite high.
Therefore, tennis enthusiasts hope to improve their skills more professionally. It is not only because they have spent money and want to get the best value for it but also to better enjoy the fun of the sport. "The entry threshold for tennis is very high. If one of the two players has a very low level, the game basically becomes just about picking up balls, and there is not much fun," Xiaobi (a pseudonym), a ten - year tennis enthusiast, told Yicai Business School.
To quickly improve tennis skills, one can either take lessons from a coach or practice independently. However, the premise of practice is to have standard movements; otherwise, it is easy to get injured. Therefore, tennis enthusiasts need professional guidance and are more willing to invest time and money in improving their professional level.
The continuous demand of tennis enthusiasts to "practice better" has given rise to the tennis ball serving machine, a mature product category that has been around for 20 years.
A mature market does not mean there are no opportunities. Since tennis enthusiasts are mainly concentrated in the middle - class and in first - and second - tier cities with high consumption levels, tennis ball serving machines are generally priced relatively high, with the mainstream price range from 2,000 to 7,000 yuan.
Most traditional serving machines on the market use a preset control method, that is, users set the program in advance - the machine serves the balls - the serving ends. Even with the relatively high price, the differences are mainly in the number of served balls, speed, and battery life. They have no perception ability and do not support high - degree - of - freedom control. Over the years, the price of tennis ball serving machines is similar to that of smartphones, but their configuration is like that of a landline phone, which has made some companies see opportunities.
Take the Pangbot PACE intelligent tennis ball serving machine, which was launched last month, as an example. Compared with ordinary tennis ball serving machines on the market, it can achieve robot - level perception, triggering, tactics, and following. The Pro version has 3 AI functions - return - running mode, follow - up training mode, and match - challenge mode.
It is equipped with intelligent sensors and cameras on the hardware and introduces a human position perception and dynamic analysis system on the software. Based on self - developed AI algorithms, it can, like a professional tennis coach, formulate training plans according to the user's real - time movement status and level, dynamically adjust the ball - feeding strategy and training rhythm, and generate competitive actual - combat training.
Acemate launched by Woan Robotics has stronger interactivity. It positions itself as "the first tennis serving robot for real - life battles". After the user hits the ball, it can run to the corresponding position, catch the returned ball with a net, and put it into the ball compartment. It not only integrates ball - serving and ball - picking functions but also greatly enhances the interactive fun.
Tenniix supports voice and gesture control and positions itself as "the first vision - based AI tennis ball serving machine". It is equipped with an LED display that shows real - time status such as "PK" and "running".
It can be seen that intelligent and AI tennis ball serving machines start from aspects such as customized ball - feeding, AI battle training, and voice interaction. By introducing AI algorithms and visual recognition, they enhance perception and control abilities, getting closer to robots and infinitely approaching the goal of "replacing coaches". It not only helps trainers improve training efficiency but is also a "must - have tool for introverted people to practice tennis".
AI hardware is no different from ordinary products; the right scenario is crucial
After Pangbot raised 2.65 million US dollars, exceeding the target by 26,255% last year, Tennixx also raised 750,000 US dollars, exceeding the target by 5,946%. Acemate, with 16 days left in the fundraising period, has already raised 6,360% of the target, reaching 1.91 million US dollars, showing excellent performance.
The reason why intelligent tennis ball serving machines can attract target users and open up the market is closely related to the scenario.
First of all, tennis is a net - separated sport. The machine does not need to be in contact with people, the scenario is relatively structured, and the safety is high.
Compared with daily - life scenarios such as doing housework, picking up express deliveries, and taking care of the elderly, as well as multi - player confrontation sports scenarios such as football and basketball, the net - separated sports scenario is more suitable for the application of robots and AI intelligent hardware.
In this scenario, the behaviors of a coach such as feeding balls, giving action instructions, hitting balls across the net, and accompanying training are relatively fixed, and humans and machines are isolated from each other, providing natural conditions for the mature application of intelligent hardware. Just like industrial robots in factories can complete their work by repeating fixed actions, it is relatively easy for robots to control the ball path and conduct visual monitoring in an application scenario that does not require excessive generalization ability. This is a track where one can use smart strategies to develop products.
This is a great advantage for robotics companies, such as Chuangyi Technology, which has experience in making battle robots and table - tennis serving robots, and Woan Robotics, an "AI home embodied robot" company invested by well - known robotics expert Li Zexiang.
Secondly, the tennis ball serving machine is a mature product category with a long - standing and highly certain user demand.
The serving machines launched by leading brands can meet the needs of the existing market, but more intelligent and AI - enabled functions can create an incremental market. This may be the best solution for the implementation of AI consumer - grade hardware - to regard itself as an ordinary product and find the right target group and scenario.
The intelligent tennis ball serving machine has become popular, and a new track has emerged. However, just like the problems encountered in the implementation of other AI - intelligent products, the consumer market is more complex, the competition for market share is faster, and there are more strategies. Sometimes, "truly intelligent" products do not necessarily lead to real sales.
On the one hand, intelligent products are more expensive. On the other hand, there are more products "wrapped in AI hype". "AI" and "intelligent" have sometimes become selling points that consumers need to carefully distinguish. Is it really AI and intelligent, or just a marketing gimmick?
On mainstream e - commerce platforms, the prices of intelligent tennis ball serving machines range from 1,000 to 10,000 yuan, with white - label products and traditional leading brands mixed together. Among the products with relatively good sales, domestic leading brands include Musketeer, Pushang, Siboasi, and Tnisman; new brands include Pangbot, VEVA, Nisplay, and Aidibao; and white - label OEM products include ZOEREA and Haolaide. There are at least hundreds of brands.
Some of them claim to be suitable for beginners, and some focus on self - programming, with a wide variety of functions. Many products with the word "intelligent" in their names actually require manual operation, and their prices are also very high.
For example, a certain intelligent tennis ball serving machine priced at 7,100 yuan during the 618 promotion with a cumulative sales volume of over 2,000 units claims to be "intelligent", but the product still uses a preset ball path and landing point. The so - called intelligence is mainly reflected in the support for APP and smart watch control.
Another similar product is a new - brand intelligent tennis ball serving machine priced at 5,499 yuan, which supports software iteration and upgrade and can be controlled by a remote control, a mini - program, and an APP. From the product introduction, it can be seen that most intelligent serving machine products still focus on interconnection and multi - terminal control. It cannot be said that they are not intelligent, but there is still a certain gap between them and what C - end consumers perceive as "true intelligence".
Obviously, there are still many opportunities for AI intelligent hardware in terms of perception, interaction, and execution, whether in the tennis ball serving machine market or other fields.
During the acceleration of AI intelligent hardware development, this kind of competition between new and old products is an inevitable process. However, as consumers, we hope to see more "unique products" to expand our imagination.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Yicai Business School", author: Yicai Business School. Republished by 36Kr with permission.