Liz Gannes

Recent Posts by Liz Gannes

Baidu Builds a Mobile Browser for Emerging Markets, and Gets Orange to Pre-Install It

Baidu and Orange are announcing today a mobile browser partnership designed to address users in Africa and the Middle East.

The custom Baidu browser is to be pre-installed on new Android devices sold through Orange in Africa this year.

Baidu_BrowserIt’s specifically designed to compress data and give users easy bookmarks to Web services like Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter.

The aim is to serve a fast-growing group of mobile Internet users; Orange said demand for Android in Egypt doubled in the second half of 2012.

The partnership also gives Baidu a chance to show that its understanding of emerging markets, developed in China, can be applied to the rest of the world.

Baidu had officially launched its Android browser in China in September 2012, where the mobile browser leader in China has historically been UCWeb.

The new Baidu-Orange browser is a separate project that was exclusively designed for Orange, said Xavier Perret, Orange VP of strategic partnerships and business development. Perret wouldn’t disclose terms of the agreement, but said it was more about user experience than revenue.

The browser is launching today in Arabic and English and coming soon in French.

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