After Dominating Overall Search, Baidu Eyes China’s Mobile Search Market

Having dominated the overall search market in China (and also aggressively expanding its service abroad), Baidu now eyes China’s ever-growing mobile market.

In an AFP report, Senior Vice President Shen Haoyu said that besides foreign expansion, Baidu also sees China’s fast-growing mobile Internet market as a huge opportunity.

With 900 million mobile phone subscribers, the mobile market looks extremely lucrative. To put the figure into perspective, the number of mobile users in China is about 3 times the population of US and growth is far from over.

A Baidu Mobile OS?

Two months ago, Financial Times reported that Baidu has plans to develop a light operating system for mobile devices. Baidu’s mobile OS was said to be instant-on allowing users to use the device as soon as it is turned. However, the reliability of the report was challenged as Baidu declined to confirm that the company was indeed working on a mobile OS. Since then, there hasn’t been much news about Baidu’s movement in the mobile space.

Baidu’s Mobile Search Market Share

As of first quarter of 2011, Baidu accounted for 36.1 percent of China’s mobile search market. The result pales in comparison to its 75.8 percent share of the overall search market in China. The figures are provided by research firm, Analysys International.

Baidu, Google

Undoubtedly, Baidu’s rival in the search mobile space would be Google , which feels ‘very positive’ about its future in mobile Internet. While Google-owned mobile OS, Android, is fast growing in China, its mobile search service didn’t enjoy the same success. Google’s mobile service is partially blocked in China for more than a year now and it remains to be seen if Baidu can replicate the same success in China’s mobile search market.