By 
Google’s China-based competitor Baidu would love to come up with a win in the newly emerging mobile search market, and their latest strategy has them going behind enemy lines. Baidu is in talks with several handset manufacturers to feature their search box widget prominently in place of Google’s on upcoming Android phones. Mobile search is still a fledgling market in China, and Android handsets only account for 0.4 percen of the 7.5 million smartphones sold during the last three months of 2009. That number has surely grown over the first half of 2010, as it seems not a day goes by that we don’t report on some knock-off or low-end Android phone headed for the Chinese market (and that’s not counting tablets).
As smartphone usage grows in China mobile search is bound to become a huge market, and could mean large gains for the companies featuring search on various handsets. It isn’t unprecedented for a manufacturer or carrier to forego Google for a competing search engine (Yahoo and Bing have both showed up on North American Android handsets), but it there is no doubt the American search giant would rather reap all the rewards — including search traffic — that come along with it’s quickly expanding mobile endeavors.
[via All Things Digital]
Lol the irony… They want their search box widget prominently in place of Google’s on upcoming Anroid phones, while Google DEVELOPED Android.
Here we go again. Why would I replace Google with Baidu again? Pre installed third party, non removable… a no go.
What phone has Bing?
“Though virtually unknown outside of its home country, Baidu is the overwhelmingly dominant search engine in China and the company further strengthened its leading position over Google in China after Google shut down its China search service in March and began directing Chinese search users to its Hong Kong site. Baidu’s share of China’s search market grew six percentage points in the second quarter to 70%, according to Analysys. Google’s share fell by about the same amount to 24%. ”
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If having baidu means more people from china will use android, that’s a good thing.
However, I don’t think there are too many people who would want bing on their phone.
What sucks about this, is that the Chinese will take care of their own, in which case Baidu will win.
Baidu already won. Now china can dump their many proprietary OS’s and linux variants and standardize on Android.
Chinese search engine would compare to their fake iPhone and will newer be on par with Google. The fact that Chinese always try to sensor stuff and everything is full of spyware and scams could lead to degrading androids good name. if Chinese want their search engine on the phone they should make their own, because they take what is good and works and turn it into junk!
google should locked down their search engine in android. or at least make it know that it was developed by google
@Inspiron41 that goes right against what android is all about. I should be able to install bing if I am braindamaged enough to do that.
China = communist
Baidu = communist
Google = nationalism
who win?
@Steve yah i know, but they’re screwing over google. i wished google can come out on top in the end
Baidu revenue = 250 Million$, Google revenue = 6.8Billion$, does Google care? In any case it should be left to the user to choose what he wants, it should not be locked, i dont mind anything being the default.
@Rdx Yes, Google cares but with conditions, since they pulled out from censored search in China this year. It is sad that Google will provide a free OS for them to replace the major revenue driver with their own. Baidu’s revenue will grow and it will be in Billions of $s.
@Steve I don’t think Google will win in China in the end.
Sure, China has capitalism, but it’s biased by abusing IP of others, and fixing currency. It’s a one way game, and US is losing.
Z,
This is more accurate, won’t blame ya ’cause your just starting to get to know world, young one.
Google = Private Enterprise of a Capitalistic State
Baidu = Socialist State Enterprise
Whoever wins in the end probably does not concern you financially anyways, so it’s a darn stupid thing to cheer for one or the other.
You know it, regardless of what Google says that it represents, a new breed of companies that do no evil, you know deep down inside that it’s just a matter of time before the young Anakin Skywalker turns to the dark side. Just look at Apple.
Like it or now, our Western world is dominated by a couple hundreds of handful big ass corporations, that make decisions for us. Even though Google represents the best of the breed, we, customers of Google, therefore stakeholders, must remain vigilant, and not just blindly cheer, or surely we will one day suffer the fate that befalls to the Old Republic. This should be the prudent Modus Operandi until Android becomes truely Open Source.
Google should has power to insist their search engine box in all Android phone. If Baidu win, it’s mean Google has lack of power to do it. btw, this is an option for us..to use baidu or google..this is as customer perspective.
If Bai du is the more prominant search engine in China, it would make sense for them the try to negotiate with carriers to bring their search engine to the forefront of their mobile devices.
This doesn’t effect us people. Google is the prominant seach engine this side of the world, which is why most of us use google. If people in China use Bai du, why force them to use google?
Android is open to allow the customer to use what they want to use. So let them. Stop whining that this hurts Google because it doesn’t. They will still be using Google Android OS. Googles ads will still pop up in the browser and in apps. Gogle still gets paid regardless.
Google shut down their China search services and redirects them to Hong Kong Search Service, yet people want to force them to use Google Search?
Google donated Android to the world. You can do what you want with it. All they need to do, and what they continue to so, is simply provide better add-on services. Eventually, consumers come back to what’s better.
In China, only under educated people use Baidu which is the synonym for shit, full of ads scams.
Wonder why foreign investers like it.
And it’s not a Chinese company, it’s american.
That Mr. Li markets themselves as Chinese to gain people’s sympathy, this man is shameless.