Baidu dent Google 3G hopes
Baidu.com, the leading Chinese search provider, is preparing a new 3G search service for mobile phones to coincide with next year’s launch of 3G technology in China.
The news comes only weeks after Google.cn announced plans for their own search service for the important Chinese mobile market.
Baidu, who already dominate the Chinese search market, have reported that they are working with leading network operators China Netcom Group and China Mobile to develop the new system. They will be hoping that the move to 3G will cement their number one position in the Chinese mobile search arena, achieved by their existing WAP service which launched over 2 years ago.
Google and Baidu both recognise the significance of the mobile market in China, where Internet access is generally cheaper and easier via mobile phones. In contrast to the West, many of China’s 523 million mobile users do not also own a PC with which to access the net.
Kai-Fu Lee, President of Google.cn said “China has a large mobile opportunity, with so many mobile users who will become mobile Internet users in the next few years as 3G and other technologies become pervasive,”
Google recently intensified their focus on mobile phones with the announcement of their Linux-based Android open source mobile platform, but the US company have a lot of ground to make up on Baidu, which recent figures from China Intelli Consulting suggest hold 69.5% share of the search market in the main urban centres, up 7.6% on last year. In the same period, Google’s market share fell 1.1% down to 23%.
Many have speculated that much of Baidu’s success has been down to their superior connections in the Chinese market (Guanxi). Their announcement that they are now working on 3G services in association with China Mobile, the world’s most popular provider of mobile phone services is likely to be a bitter blow to Google’s hopes of staging a recovery.
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