China Mobile’s search engine will reportedly launch in 2011. The operator has entered into a joint venture with Xinhua to compete with market leaders Baidu and Google.
Mobile phone penetration in China is nearing saturation, and to offset this potential damage to its core business, China Mobile is attempting to expand its data services. Competition between mobile operators is likely to intensify as the market approaches full penetration, and firms are looking to other areas to lessen the impact on their profit margins.
Both mobile and computer users will be able to access China Mobile’s new search engine, and the operator has confirmed that the service will retain competition, in that the operator will not freeze out its rivals from its network.
China Mobile has its work cut out, as the market leader Baidu has a reported market share of over 70 per cent. Baidu has also made significant inroads into the mobile search engine market, striking a deal with several device manufacturers to embed a Baidu search field into the browsers used by their handsets.
