“Apple Inc. plans to add Baidu Inc.’s search engine on iPhones in China, part of a push to broaden its services and user base in the world’s most-populous nation, according to two people with knowledge of the matter,” Adam Satariano and Mark Lee report for Bloomberg. “The agreement to add Baidu, China’s largest search engine, to the lineup of Web tools on the iPhone could be announced as early as next week, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Apple is holding its annual developers conference in San Francisco starting June 11.”
“A deal with Baidu, which handles about 80 percent of China’s Internet search queries, fits with a plan by Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to gain a bigger toehold in the largest mobile-phone marketIt also gives users an alternative to Google Inc., which competes with Apple in mobile software and advertising,” Satariano and Lee report. “Baidu accounted for 78.5 percent of China’s search-engine market by revenue in the first quarter, compared with 16.6 percent for Google, according to research company Analysys International… While customers will have the option to select Baidu as their main vehicle for searching the Web, Google’s product will probably remain the default choice, one person said. At present, users of iPhones and iPads in China can access Baidu search by downloading it separately as an application.”
Satariano and Lee report, “Even so, adding Baidu is the latest example of Apple diminishing its dependence on Google’s products. Apple plans to unveil a mapping application next week that will come pre- installed on its iPhones and iPad tablets, replacing Google Maps, said a person with knowledge of the matter who isn’t authorized to speak publicly about it.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
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Apple is trying to gain a foothold while Google is still banned or restricted in China. I wonder how this will turn out in the long run.
Me likey.