Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) Targets Google By Launching a Mobile Browser

There's competition to Microsoft, Apple and Google Inc(NASDAQ:GOOG) in the browser market and it is coming from none other than local Chinese online hero, Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR)(NASDAQ:BIDU).

Baidu, which has about 80 percent of the search engine market in China, has released its own browser that will counter Apple's Safari and Google Chrome in China. The new browser is expected to be 20 percent fester than its rivals.

Releasing the new browser on Friday last week, Baidu said that it will allow users to watch video without having to source external applications from the Internet.

Last month Baidu's complacency was shaken when U.S.-based Qihoo 360 Technology, launched its search engine in China and straightaway managed to garner a 20 percent share of the market.

Baidu is trying to convert its web traffic into revenues with sale of contents, apps and advertisement. It also plans to expand its operations to Chinese Android smartphones later in the year.

Jenifer Li, Baidu’s CFO, revealed that plans to set a cloud computing centre were in the pipeline. She further revealed that the company would pump $1.6 billion into the project. Cloud computing is a huge income earner for search engines, and Baidu expects to glean huge returns in this market.

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Baidu is trying to take advantage of the rivalry between Samsung and Apple that has also sucked in Google into the fray. The ramifications of that bitter rivalry may well extend beyond U.S. shores into China

The rivalry between Apple and Samsung has more to it than mere patents. Apple is killing two birds with one stone. By taking Samsung down, it also eliminates a lot of threats from Google.

Baidu.com therefore has a chance to squeeze its way into the mainstream market, as Google and Apple are still caught up in neck deep rivalry and unnecessary distractions.