Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU)

WEB NEWS

Friday, September 27, 2019

Comments & Business Outlook

CHANGSHA, China, Sept. 26, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) today debuted Apollo Robotaxi in Changsha, Hunan province, with the first batch of 45 self-driving taxis officially starting trial operations on urban roads. Apollo Robotaxi deploys L4 Hongqi EV vehicles jointly developed with Chinese carmaker FAW Group.  

Ride hailing is now open for trial by the general public in Changsha, with the fleet of robotaxis able to perform a range of intelligent self-driving functions, including changing lanes based on road and traffic conditions, assessing the movement of nearby vehicles and employing automatic avoidance when encountering aggressive overtaking by other vehicles. With safety as a top priority, a human operator is also assigned to each robotaxi to take control of the autonomous system in situations that could affect the safety of passengers or the vehicle itself.

“The robotaxi trial operations in Changsha demonstrate that the Apollo Robotaxi is progressing from research and development to a market reality, which will serve to provide rich feedback from real-world scenarios. Throughout the entire process, we have been and will always be committed to safety first and foremost,” said Zhenyu Li, Vice President of Baidu and General Manager of its Intelligent Driving Group. "Intelligent driving is a great journey, and today marks a solid step forward. We will continue to work together with our partners with the aim of bringing a safer, more comfortable and more efficient autonomous driving experience to all."

Apollo Robotaxi is set to offer passenger rides in a pilot zone in Changsha covering a total area of 70km² and 135km-long open roads - making it the largest in China with the most extensive coverage of complex road conditions and the most advanced vehicle-infrastructure cooperative systems. Within the pilot zone, the trial operation will cover around 50km by the end of 2019 and, in the first half of 2020, Apollo Robotaxi will cover the entire 135km stretch open to autonomous driving.

The collaboration between Baidu and FAW has long been advancing the acceleration of the robotaxi. The Hongqi EV fleet, jointly developed with FAW Hongqi, represents China’s first volume production of preinstalled L4 autonomous driving vehicles. Hongqi EV is the latest product of Apollo's autonomous driving technology, realized through a synergy of leading software and hardware capabilities, preinstallation production capacity, fluid human-vehicle interface, a safety guarantee and the multifaceted upgrade and optimization of fleet management via the cloud. With a factory-installed customized Apollo OBU (On-Board Unit), the L4 Hongqi EV can carry out L4 V2X communication with intelligent roadside equipment and achieve a seamless interplay between vehicle and infrastructure.

Baidu and FAW Hongqi have worked closely to redesign both the installation scheme of the autonomous driving unit for the robotaxi as well as the electrical/electronic architecture of the entire vehicle. The companies are now able to optimally integrate the two sections during factory installation, addressing issues including signal interference and detachment caused by modification and dismounting.


Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, May 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) ranked No. 1 in China’s smart speaker market and became a top-three global player with Amazon and Google in the first quarter of 2019, according to research companies Canalys and Strategy Analytics, as Baidu’s conversational AI system DuerOS continues to gain momentum in device shipment and ecosystem development.

According to Canalys and Strategy Analytics, China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest smart speaker market after seeing about 500% growth year-on-year. For the first time, Baidu has topped the Chinese market ahead of Chinese peers Alibaba and Xiaomi. Based on Canalys Smart Speaker Analysis, Baidu recorded 3.3 millions of units shipped in Q1, taking up 16% of global share.

Kun Jing, Baidu Vice President and General Manager of the Smart Living Group, said: “We are thrilled with the progress we have made in the past year and to see our leading position recognized. Since 2018, we’ve been improving our systematic capability in AI hardware, brand building, marketing and sales channels, with the aim to bring the best products to users. Looking ahead, we will continue to build products that improve people’s daily lives and make the complicated world simpler through technology.”

DuerOS, which powers the smart speakers, has seen increasing popularity among users and partners, with a stellar first quarter seeing sales of the Xiaodu series smart devices surpassing the total for 2018. In March 2019, the DuerOS voice assistant installed base reached 275 million, up by 279% year-on-year, and monthly voice queries on DuerOS reached 2.37 billion, up by 817% year-on-year.

Through constant product innovation and user experience enhancement, the user stickiness of Xiaodu devices has consistently improved. The service offering in the DuerOS skills store has been expanded to over 1,100 skills across a wide range of areas, including long and short video, live video, gaming, online education and news. The average time users spend on Xiaodu smart devices, for both smart displays and speakers, is more than one hour a day.


Thursday, December 6, 2018

Deal Flow

BEIJING, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced the pricing of its public offering of US$250 million aggregate principal amount of notes by a reopening of the Company's existing 4.375% notes due 2024. The notes have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited. The Company expects to receive net proceeds from the offering of approximately US$249 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.


Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Deal Flow

BEIJING, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under an automatic shelf registration statement on Form F-3, pursuant to which the Company proposes to sell senior notes by a reopening of the Company's existing 4.375% notes due 2024. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.

The joint bookrunners of the offering are Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.

This notice is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States of America. Any public offering of these securities in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that contains detailed information about the issuer, which prospectus may be obtained free of charge from EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Company, any underwriter, or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send an investor the prospectus if the investor requests it by calling Goldman, Sachs & Co. toll-free at 1-866-471-2526 and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at 1-212-834-4533. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC and has become effective under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933.


Thursday, November 8, 2018

Notable Share Transactions

BEIJING, Nov. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under an automatic shelf registration statement on Form F-3, pursuant to which the Company proposes to sell senior notes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.


Thursday, November 1, 2018

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Nov. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baidu, Inc. (BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announces at its annual flagship technology conference Baidu World volume production plans of China’s first Level 4 (L4) Hongqi autonomous driving passenger vehicles, collaboration with Volvo Cars and plans for autonomous driving taxis.

“The era for autonomous passenger vehicles is upon us, but having only smart cars is not enough. We also need smart roads. By leveraging our capabilities in autonomous driving and AI technologies, we can develop comprehensive solutions that will greatly improve the efficiency of urban cities,” said Robin Li, Chairman and CEO of Baidu.


Monday, July 16, 2018

Legal Insights

BEIJING, July 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) applauds the decision today by the Beijing Haidian District People's Court (or “the Court”) to accept Baidu’s enforcement application, requiring Sogou to comply with the outcome and compensation terms of the Court’s judgment in favor of Baidu in the long-standing traffic hijacking dispute. Baidu submitted the enforcement application in response to Sogou’s failure to meet its compensation obligations as outlined in the final judgment of the case in May 2018.

Baidu commenced the case against Sogou in 2014 after some users discovered that when using the Sogou input method to search for text in the Baidu search box, they would see prompts in a drop-down box, that if clicked upon, would automatically direct them to the relevant search results page of Sogou. Baidu believes that Sogou’s behavior went against the principle of fair competition. It interfered with user experience and infringed upon the rights and interests of Baidu.

In 2015, the Beijing Haidian District People's Court in their first-instance judgment agreed that Sogou’s traffic hijacking had constituted unfair competition and ordered Sogou to immediately stop the traffic hijacking, publicly apologize on their official website, and compensate Baidu for financial losses of 500,000 yuan. Sogou refused to accept the judgment and made an appeal.

On May 25, 2018, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court made their final judgment which dismissed Sogou’s appeal and upheld the first-instance judgment, which ruled in favor of Baidu. Despite almost a month and a half passing since the final judgment, Sogou has refused to honor the judgment terms and issue an apology. Baidu, therefore, submitted an enforcement application to the Court, which was accepted by the Court in early July.


Monday, May 21, 2018

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, May 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain investors relating to the divestiture of its global ad and tools business ("Global DU business"), which provides DU ads and tool apps, including Du Caller, Mobojoy, Photo Wonder and DU Recorder.

Pursuant to definitive agreements, Baidu will divest a majority equity stake in the Global DU business. Upon the completion of the transaction, Baidu will own approximately 34% of Global DU business's outstanding shares and no longer have effective control.

"We have been able to build global adoption of DU ads and tool apps through Baidu's strong technological team. Upon this divestiture, the Global DU business will have more autonomy and agility in its operation and will receive a cash injection to further support the growth of its business," said Herman Yu, CFO of Baidu. "This transaction marks another milestone for Baidu to sharpen its focus on AI-powered core businesses, on the heels of the divestiture of Baidu's financial services business."

The transaction contemplated under the definitive agreements is subject to certain closing conditions and is currently expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2018. Upon the completion of the transaction, the Global DU business is expected to be deconsolidated from Baidu's consolidated financial statements.

Baidu's new global business unit will focus on AI-powered businesses, including the fast growing PopIn, a leading mobile recommendation engine, the #1 input method Simeji app in Japan and various AI products offered in the U.S. and throughout Southeast Asia. Baidu's global presence also include cutting-edge research centers in the Silicon Valley and Seattle, Washington.


Monday, April 30, 2018

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, April 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) ("Baidu"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain investors relating to the divestiture of its financial service business, or Financial Services Group ("FSG"), which provides consumer credit, wealth management and other financial services. The investors are led by TPG and The Carlyle Group, with participation from Taikang Group, ABC International Holdings and others.

Pursuant to the definitive agreements, Baidu will divest a majority equity stake in FSG, which has been renamed as Du Xiaoman Financial ("Du Xiaoman"). Through the transaction, Du Xiaoman will raise approximately US$1.9 billion, among which Du Xiaoman will receive $840 million with the remaining balance used to purchase existing stake. Upon the completion of the transaction, Baidu will own approximately 42% of Du Xiaoman's outstanding shares and will no longer have effective control over Du Xiaoman. Du Xiaoman will operate independently from Baidu and will enter into business cooperation arrangements with Baidu. Guang Zhu, Baidu Senior Vice President and General Manager of FSG, will become CEO of Du Xiaoman.

"I'm pleased to see the rapid growth Du Xiaoman has experienced since its inception in December 2015, to become a leading player in the FinTech space through innovation powered by AI," said Robin Li, Chairman and CEO of Baidu. "This transaction marks another milestone for Baidu to incubate new businesses with large opportunities and strong synergies with Baidu's core business, on the heels of iQiyi's public listing."

"In the coming age of FinTech, Du Xiaoman will leverage the technological capabilities of Baidu AI to partner with financial institutions and provide technology-driven, trustworthy financial services to consumers in China," said Guang Zhu, CEO of Du Xiaoman.

The transactions contemplated under the definitive agreements are subject to certain closing conditions and are currently expected to close in the second half of 2018. Upon the completion of the transactions, it is expected that Du Xiaoman will be deconsolidated from Baidu's consolidated financial statements.  


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, CHINA--(Marketwired - November 28, 2017) - Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) and Chinese consumer technology company Xiaomi today announced that the companies have entered into a partnership to establish in-depth cooperation, leveraging the two companies' strengths in artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) in order to offer an enhanced experience to users in consumer electronics and smart devices.

The partnership, revealed at Xiaomi's first IoT Developer Conference, marks a significant step in boosting China's smart manufacturing with advanced technologies including AI, IoT and big data. Connecting AI and IoT will be a driving force to upgrade the manufacturing industry.

"The two companies have joined forces in forming a strong partnership to make users' experience more compelling, moving on to the next stage in AI development," Baidu Vice Chairman, Group President and COO, Qi Lu, said. "Xiaomi has accumulated solid experience in smart hardware, big data and established a smart device ecosystem. It is the world's leading company in the IoT industry. Baidu has strong technological fundamentals in AI, and with Baidu's conversational AI system DuerOS, we are using our world-leading AI technologies and information ecosystems to support the development of the IoT industry," he said.

"Xiaomi has achieved significant breakthroughs in core artificial intelligence technologies and products, and Baidu has deep experience in artificial intelligence technologies, including solid capabilities in voice, images, natural language processing and deep learning. We are delighted to reach a strategic partnership in artificial intelligence with Baidu. This powerful collaboration between the two companies will enable more people to experience the excitement of using AI technologies," said Lei Jun, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi.

Currently, Xiaomi has more than 280 million active users worldwide, and has accumulated a huge amount of data. Xiaomi's IoT platform has more than 85 million connected devices, making it the world's largest smart hardware platform. Through the launch of the Mi AI Speaker this year, Xiaomi demonstrated AI capabilities applied to its ever-growing IoT platform, and its commitment to further application of its continuing research into AI.

As leaders in AI and IoT, Baidu and Xiaomi will apply AI technologies in more real-life scenarios and provide better experiences to users through the partnership. The two companies will start in-depth cooperation in voice, computer vision, natural language processing, knowledge graph, deep learning, augmented reality and virtual reality. In the future, the two companies will be able to provide users with better experience as they are able to understand real scenarios, users and their needs better by integrating AI with IoT.

The IoT industry is promising and has enormous potential, and the applications of AI technologies are supporting its development. As a leader in AI, Baidu is using its DuerOS conversational AI system to support the development of IoT industry. In July, Badu launched the DuerOS open platform to make voice-enabled devices that can hear, understand and fulfill users' needs. DuerOS has since added more than 130 partners and is embedded in products including smart phones, TVs, speakers, smart watches and home appliances. DuerOS has created an open platform offering AI technologies to developers who can create their IoT devices at lower costs and with fewer barriers to entry.


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Nov. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baidu, Inc. (BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that this year’s Singles’ Day advertising revenue increased by 120% compared to last year, buoyed by record-breaking sales by Chinese consumers during the biggest annual shopping festival in China on November 11.

“The active participation of merchants from a larger variety of industries such as beauty, food and beverage, education and housekeeping services during Singles’ Day was a win-win situation for Baidu, the merchants, consumers and e-commerce platforms,” said Alex Cheng, Baidu’s Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Baidu Search.

In advance of this year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival, Baidu prepared by connecting to customers’ databases in order to better understand online users’ needs. Learning users’ preferences ahead of the day, the Baidu platform was able to better fulfill their needs through data matching. The significant growth in advertising revenue was also bolstered by the increased use of display advertising.

“As a media platform for online marketing customers, the most important thing for Baidu is matching online users with our customer base. Online users can find the exact services and products they need on Baidu, while customers can reach out to highly targeted sets of users. Baidu is a hugely valuable platform as we can fulfill users’ needs at the same time as supporting the business success of our marketing customers,” he added.

As China’s largest search engine, Baidu has a significant competitive advantage in online traffic. Baidu’s technology strengths are also an advantage for marketing strategies as the company is able to use its big data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to provide accurately targeted ads.

Baidu's strategic pillars are to strengthen its mobile foundation and lead in AI. Baidu is leveraging its AI technology to strengthen its core products including search – enabling a more natural search experience via voice and images as inputs, increasing the coverage of rich content, and creating more accurate and detailed user profiling.

Singles’ Day takes place on November 11 every year and is the biggest shopping festival in China with Chinese consumers spending billions of dollars buying online. Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Inc. announced that this year’s Singles’ Day gross merchandise volume reached a record RMB168.2 billion (USD25 billion), while another e-commerce platform JD.com reported RMB127.1 billion (USD19 billion) in GMV.


Friday, October 20, 2017

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Oct. 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) announced signing strategic cooperation agreements with two of China’s leading automotive companies, BAIC Group and Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co., Ltd. (“King Long”). Baidu and BAIC Group, one of the largest automakers in China, will mass-produce vehicles with Level 3 autonomous features around 2019 and fully autonomous Level 4 cars around 2021. Baidu also signed a strategic partnership agreement with King Long, a leading Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer. Together the two companies will put autonomous buses that run on designated areas into mass production and trial operation by the end of July 2018. These agreements mark another milestone in the development of the Apollo open-source autonomous driving platform and ecosystem following Baidu’s release of Apollo 1.5 this past September.

Baidu and BAIC Group to Mass Produce Level 4 Autonomous Vehicles by 2021

The combination of Baidu’s Apollo open platform and BAIC Group’s vehicle platform will enable the mass production of autonomous cars, with Baidu’s AI technology at the core. The cooperation covers connected cars and cloud services with the goal of creating an “AI+Automotive” ecosystem. Apollo technology, the conversational AI platform DuerOS, and image recognition technologies will be integrated into BAIC Group’s in-car systems to create a one-stop shop of connected car products. In addition, the two companies will jointly explore opportunities to create a new cloud ecosystem, products in intelligent transportation and mobile travel, and other big data services. The cooperation will cover BAIC Group’s passenger, commercial, and new-energy vehicles. It is anticipated that BAIC will be fully equipped with the Apollo car networking capabilities by the end of 2018, and in 2019, the number of BAIC vehicles equipped with Baidu’s connected car products is expected to exceed 1 million.

Baidu Chairman and CEO, Robin Li, said, “More than a century ago the automobile went from stage zero to stage one, and in doing so, it not only transformed the way people travelled, but also created new industry systems and became a model of industrial innovation. Baidu and BAIC Group are joining forces on the opportunity to likewise bring autonomous vehicles from stage zero to stage one, grow China’s automotive industry, and to help write a new chapter in the industry’s history.”

BAIC Group Chairman, Xu Heyi, said, “The rise of AI has led to unprecedented change in traditional manufacturing. We need a more open and innovative spirit to meet these changes. Intelligent technology is a major trend in the global automotive industry, and it is essential to BAIC Group as we continue our transformation into an innovation-driven company. We hope that by cooperating with Baidu in autonomous driving, intelligent driving, and intelligent transport, we can improve the future of travel for us all.” 

Baidu and King Long to Advance Mass Production of Autonomous Buses by 2018

Baidu and King Long, China’s leading bus manufacturer, will work together to release autonomous driving buses that run on designated areas by the end of July 2018. These vehicles will be the first self-driving buses in China to be mass-produced and mark an acceleration of Baidu’s timeline for the mass production of autonomous vehicles. The partnership will combine Apollo’s cutting-edge autonomous driving solutions with King Long’s extensive vehicle fleet, pioneering work, and expertise in commercial vehicle designs for mass production. The Apollo platform will be integral to the entire research and development process. The two companies have already performed autonomous waypoint driving in enclosed venues using King Long buses deployed with Apollo’s 1.0 capabilities. Together, Baidu and King Long will aim to provide autonomous buses to supply first and last mile services in China.

Baidu Vice Chairman, Group President and COO, Qi Lu, said, “The mass production of autonomous vehicles will first be achieved in the commercial vehicle segment, and this corporation represents a key step toward this. Our cooperation together will combine Baidu’s AI expertise and King Long’s automotive production experience to create commercial value and contribute to combatting China’s traffic congestion problem. This is just one area where the Apollo platform will help advance China’s automotive industry significantly over the coming years.”

King Long Chairman, Siyu Xie, said, “The cooperation between Baidu and King Long will help fully realize the vision of a safer, more convenient and efficient public transportation system by 2018. This is a big step towards making China’s public transportation more intelligent and connected, and we are proud to be a part of this industry milestone.”


Thursday, August 24, 2017

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (the "Company" or "Baidu") (BIDU), the leading Chinese language internet search provider, today announced that the Company's majority owned subsidiary, Xiaodu Life Technology Ltd ("Xiaodu"), which operates the food delivery business, has completed its merger ("Merger") with Rajax Merger Sub Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rajax Holding, which operates the food delivery business under the ele.me brand in China. As a result of the Merger, Xiaodu has become a subsidiary of Rajax.

Baidu and Rajax have also agreed to a business cooperation across a broad base of products and services following completion of the Merger.


Thursday, April 13, 2017

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, CHINA--(Marketwired - Apr 13, 2017) - Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced the acquisition of xPerception, a U.S. technology company that provides visual perception software and hardware solutions for a range of applications, including robotics, virtual reality (VR), and devices for people who are visually impaired.

The acquisition further strengthens the use of Baidu's visual perception technology in key projects like augmented reality (AR) and autonomous driving, accelerating the development of artificial intelligence-based products.

xPerception is a technology start-up with world-class talent from both China and the United States. The co-founders of the company, Dr. Bao Yingze and Dr. Chen Mingyu, were early key engineers at AR start-up Magic Leap.

Following the acquisition, the core xPerception team will join Baidu Research and continue developing xPerception's core technology, visual inertial simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).
Accurate and robust SLAM is one of the fundamental technologies in visual perception. It plays a critical role in applications such as 3D vision, AR/VR, robotics like drones and autonomous driving.

Empowered by its core technologies, xPerception developed a 3D visual inertial camera with software SDK running on x86 or x64, ARM or other mobile platforms. The SDK features 6 degrees of freedom pose tracking, low-latency sensor fusion, as well as 3D obstacle detection and object recognition.
It enables intelligent hardware to "see" the world, allowing self-localization, 3D structure reconstruction, and path planning in new environments. xPerception's software and hardware solutions are currently being deployed in many projects of its customers in China and the United States, including public companies and VR industry leaders.

The acquisition of xPerception is the latest in a recent series of notable investments aimed at strengthening Baidu's position as a global leader in AI. AI has permeated many of Baidu's products, and the company has been attracting leading AI talent through its research facilities in Silicon Valley, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.


Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Comments & Business Outlook
BEIJING, CHINA--(Marketwired - Sep 28, 2016) - Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it is the lead investor in a new USD $60 million Brazil-based investment fund named "Easterly Ventures". Easterly Ventures will focus on providing funding, technology, local traffic and industry expertise for Brazilian tech startups, with the goal of building a robust mobile service ecosystem in Latin America.
Baidu announced its investment during an event in São Paulo, which was attended by over 200 Internet industry executives. At the event, General Manager of Baidu Brasil and President of the Brazilian O2O Association Mr. Yan Di said that Easterly Ventures will be Brazil's first Internet investment fund of its kind to provide startups with the combination of capital, technology, traffic and experience necessary to penetrate national and international markets.
"We strongly believe that Easterly Ventures will be a winner in Brazil's talent-rich market, applying learnings from China to build out the mobile ecosystem here," said Mr. Yan Di. "Brazil's economy is expected to rebound in the year ahead. There is absolutely no better time to enter this market," he said. Easterly Ventures plans to invest in as many as 15 Brazilian startup companies during its investment period, with the first investment slated for late 2016.
Easterly Ventures is the latest of Baidu's many initiatives to support the growth of Latin America's tech industry. Previously, Baidu Brasil teamed up with the Latin American Association (LAAS) and top universities to promote its startup incubator projects "Baidu Accelerate" and "Baidu Class". In 2015, Baidu Brasil founded Brazil's first business community for online-to-offline (O2O) companies, the Brazil O2O Association. In 2014, Baidu acquired the Brazilian group-buying platform Peixe Urbano, and successfully expanded its market share from 30% to 70% over the course of one year.
Baidu's international mobile apps now have a combined 300 million monthly active users worldwide, with 27 million in Brazil. Its mobile advertising platform DU Ad Platform receives over 150 million ad requests in Brazil on a daily basis.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Aug. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitauto Holdings Limited (BITA) ("Bitauto" or the "Company"), a leading provider of internet content and marketing services for China's fast-growing automotive industry, today announced that an investor consortium comprised of Tencent Holdings Limited (SEHK:00700) ("Tencent"), a leading provider of comprehensive internet services in China, Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) ("Baidu"), the leading Chinese language internet search provider, JD.com, Inc. (JD) ("JD.com"), a leading e-commerce company in China, Bitauto and other investors has entered into definitive agreements pursuant to which the investor consortium agrees to make investments totaling US$550 million in cash in Yixin Capital Limited ("Yixin Capital"), a subsidiary of Bitauto primarily engaged in e-commerce-related automotive financing platform business.

Bitauto will hold an approximately 47% equity stake in Yixin Capital on a fully diluted basis and will have control over Yixin Capital with majority of voting power at the board upon closings. Bitauto will continue to consolidate the financials of Yixin Capital.

The combination of data, user and capital resources contributed by the investors will allow Yixin Capital to perform more accurate and efficient credit evaluations and increase its ability to provide financing products and services to targeted customers. Yixin Capital will also benefit from access to its partners' broad user resources, which will help to drive customer acquisition and brand awareness. The investor consortium, which includes companies with leading financial services businesses, will explore additional capital funding opportunities with Yixin Capital as it continues to expand its market share.

Mr. William Li, chief executive officer and chairman of Bitauto, said, "Yixin Capital is an important part of Bitauto's platform as we work to create the best possible car purchasing experience for China's new and used car consumers. Today, we are delighted to announce this new investment from a roster of leading global companies, including strategic partners Tencent, Baidu and JD.com. We are confident that with the strong support of our partners, Yixin Capital is well positioned for long-term success in China's online automotive financing industry."


Monday, July 18, 2016

Comments & Business Outlook

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

ZestFinance announced today that it has received a strategic investment from Baidu (BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. ZestFinance is a Los Angeles-based company that uses machine learning to transform vast amounts of complex data into credit scores. Artificial intelligence experts and data scientists at both companies plan to work together to apply ZestFinance’s underwriting technology to Baidu’s search, location, and payment data in order to improve credit scoring decisions in China.

“At ZestFinance, our mission is to make fair and transparent credit available to everyone,” said Douglas Merrill, Founder and CEO of ZestFinance. “This investment from Baidu will help further our mission, particularly in the fast-growing Chinese credit market. We’re thrilled to work with Baidu to turn search data into credit data.”

In emerging markets such as China, consumer credit data is generally unavailable, as building consumer credit history is at a nascent stage. Baidu’s rich user search data will be valuable for loan underwriting and assessing credit risk. The ZestFinance platform is highly applicable to emerging markets because it accurately underwrites people who lack credit history.

“ZestFinance's unique ability to analyze and process complex, disparate data to make accurate credit decisions is very valuable to the Chinese credit market, where a centralized credit scoring system has yet to emerge,” said Tony Yip, Global Head of Investment, Mergers and Acquisitions at Baidu. “ZestFinance will be an important technology partner for Baidu going forward, and we look forward to working together to help transform the financial services market in China.”

ZestFinance is one of the fastest growing financial technology startups in the United States and licenses its platform to companies across a variety of industries globally. The company’s technology runs dozens of mathematical models in parallel to make timely, accurate underwriting decisions, without human intervention.


Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, May 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language internet search provider, reports on an examination of its search ranking practices by PRC regulators that followed news reports and critical public comments regarding those practices.

On or around April 30, 2016, Chinese media reported that Zexi Wei, a Chinese college student, had died from cancer following unsuccessful experimental immunotherapy treatment received at a hospital.  The media and internet commentaries also reported that Zexi Wei had learned of the hospital and treatment program when a paid listing for it appeared on the first page of Baidu's search results.

Following these reports, three PRC regulatory authorities, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce and the National Health and Family Planning Commission, sent a team of representatives to meet with Baidu management on site and examine Baidu's business practices and regulatory compliance. On May 9, 2016, the three regulatory authorities publicly announced the results of their examination.  They concluded among other things that Mr. Wei found Baidu's search results, that the bidding price by Baidu's online marketing customers is given significant weight in search results ranking, and that certain results are not clearly identified as online marketing.  The PRC regulators believe these practices affect the fairness and objectivity of search results and might mislead internet users.

The regulatory authorities also requested that Baidu take several remedial measures, including the following:

(i)      to immediately modify the Company's practice of providing online marketing services to medical, pharmaceutical, health care and other similar businesses, and refrain from providing online marketing services to medical organizations that do not have requisite qualifications from competent regulatory authorities;

(ii)     to modify the Company's existing auction-based paid search practices, including using "credibility" and "reputation" of listed parties as major factors to rank search results by May 31, 2016, and indicating clearly which search results are marketing information and the associated risks, and limiting the percentage of marketing information to no more than 30% on each web page; and

(iii)    to establish and enhance user protection mechanisms, including creating channels for users to file complaints, efficiently handling complaints, ceasing services immediately upon discovering unlawful or non-compliant information in search results, and establishing a system to compensate users harmed by misleading marketing information.      

Baidu has taken and will continue to take measures to comply with these requests from the PRC regulators.  In addition to the actions requested by the regulators, Baidu intends to set aside RMB1.0 billion for the purpose of compensating users who establish they were harmed by fraudulent marketing information. 

Baidu is fully committed to social responsibility and will continue to improve its business practices commensurate with its status as the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, to provide the best and most equitable way for people to find what they are looking for.


Friday, February 26, 2016

Comments & Business Outlook

Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2015 were RMB18.699 billion ($2.887 billion), a 33.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2014. Mobile revenue represented 56% of total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to 42% for the corresponding period in 2014.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the fourth quarter of 2015 was RMB24.712 billion ($3.815 billion), a 663.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2014. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the fourth quarter of 2015 were RMB70.92 ($10.95); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the fourth quarter of 2015 were RMB71.90 ($11.10); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding net gain recognized in Baidu's exchange of Qunar shares with Ctrip for the fourth quarter of 2015 were RMB7.61 ($1.18).

"2015 was a touchstone year for Baidu: we made significant progress in broadening our online marketing platform and further extending our reach into transactions services," said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu. "Even as China's overall growth slows, services and domestic consumption are growing. Services and domestic consumption-related verticals are supported by the government's Internet+ initiative and hold tremendous potential. Our top revenue verticals————retail/ecommerce, local services, financial services, healthcare, and education————reflect Baidu's vital role in connecting users with merchants in these growing sectors. Looking ahead, we will continue to build the Next Baidu not only to benefit from, but also drive, key secular trends of rising domestic consumption, growth in services, and a rapidly evolving mobile environment," Li said.

"We are very pleased to deliver a strong set of results in the fourth quarter. In 2015, we further executed on our vision to connect people with services and drove strong momentum in this area," said Jennifer Li, CFO of Baidu. "We look forward to continuing this journey in 2016 to further build out Baidu's online marketing and transactions services platform. As a reminder, as a result of Baidu's exchange of Qunar shares with Ctrip, Baidu deconsolidated Qunar's financials after October 26, 2015," she said.

Outlook for First Quarter 2016

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB15.410 billion ($2.379 billion) to RMB15.970 billion ($2.465 billion) for the first quarter of 2016, representing a 21.1% to 25.5% year-over-year increase. On an apples-to-apples basis, excluding Qunar from Baidu's financials, the guidance represents a 27.8% to 32.5% year-over-year increase. Following Baidu's exchange of Qunar shares with Ctrip, Baidu deconsolidated Qunar's financials after October 26, 2015. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Feb. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu") (BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that the independent special committee of Baidu's board of directors, formed to consider the previously announced non-binding proposal from Mr. Robin Yanhong Li and Mr. Yu Gong to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Qiyi.com, Inc. beneficially owned by Baidu, has retained J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited as its financial advisor to assist it in this process. Maples and Calder and Han Kun Law Offices act as the Cayman Islands and PRC legal counsels, respectively, to the special committee.

The Board cautions Baidu's shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that no decisions have been made with respect to Baidu's response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any legally binding agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to this or any other transaction, except as required under applicable law.


Friday, February 12, 2016

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, Feb. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu") (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that its board of directors (the "Board") has recently received a non-binding proposal from Mr. Robin Yanhong Li ("Mr. Li"), chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu, and Mr. Yu Gong, chief executive officer of Qiyi.com, Inc. ("Qiyi"), proposing to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Qiyi beneficially owned by Baidu based on an enterprise valuation of US$2.8 billion for 100% of Qiyi on a cash-free and debt-free basis (the "Transaction"). Pursuant to the non-binding proposal, the buyers expect that Qiyi will remain a strategic partner of Baidu after the consummation of the Transaction and enter into business cooperation agreements with Baidu. Baidu currently owns 80.5% of Qiyi's total outstanding shares on an as-converted and fully-diluted basis.

The Board has formed a special committee comprised of three independent directors, Messrs. Greg Penner, Brent Callinicos and James Ding, to evaluate the Transaction. Mr. Greg Penner will chair the special committee. The special committee has retained Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as its U.S. legal counsel, and intends to retain an independent financial advisor as well as Cayman and PRC legal counsels in due course, to assist the special committee in its work.

The Board cautions Baidu's shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the Board recently received the non-binding proposal and no decisions have been made with respect to Baidu's response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any legally binding agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to this or any other transaction, except as required under applicable law.


Friday, October 30, 2015

Comments & Business Outlook

Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the third quarter of 2015 were RMB18.383 billion ($2.892 billion), a 36.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2014. Mobile revenue represented 54% of total revenues for the third quarter of 2015, compared to 37% for the corresponding period in 2014.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) was RMB3.241 billion ($510.0 million), a 21.1% decrease from the corresponding period in 2014. Basic and diluted earnings per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2015 amounted to RMB9.09 ($1.43) and RMB9.07 ($1.43), respectively.

"With mobile accounting for nearly two-thirds of Baidu's search traffic and China squarely in a mobile age, Baidu is pioneering and redefining the mobile experience for users in China. We further extended the reach of our platform by deeply integrating and connecting search and maps with transaction services," said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu. "We have made great momentum in O2O and seen strong progress in transaction services for Baidu," Li said.

"We delivered another solid quarter, with mobile growing its contribution. The momentum in transaction services gives us the confidence to continue investing," said Jennifer Li, CFO of Baidu. "We will invest in ways that leverage and buttress our competitive advantage," she said.

Outlook for Fourth Quarter 2015

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB18.200 billion ($2.864 billion) to RMB18.750 billion ($2.950 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2015, representing a 29.5% to 33.4% year-over-year increase. Pursuant to Baidu's exchange of Qunar shares with Ctrip, as as a result of which Baidu no longer retains voting control of Qunar, Baidu will no longer consolidate Qunar's financials after October 26, 2015. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Thursday, October 29, 2015

Joint Venture

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 28, 2015) - A group of 21 leading Brazilian technology companies and 3 investment funds announced on October 27th, 2015 the founding of the Brazilian O2O Association (in Portuguese, Associa��o Brasileira de O2O). The group, which was launched from the S�o Paulo office of China's leading search engine company Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu") (NASDAQBIDU), is the first Brazilian association to represent the online-to-offline (O2O) sector in an unprecedented initiative for the industry in Latin America.

"O2O" is an abbreviation of the term "online-to-offline," which is a business model that leverages online channels to sell services and products offline, and vice versa. Some well-known examples of the O2O model are smartphone apps used to book transportation like Easy Taxi or 99 Taxis, or apps like Grubster or Restorando that allow people to make a reservation at restaurants.

A recent study conducted by the newly formed Brazilian O2O Associationestimates the potential for Brazil's O2O market at one trillion BRL per year, driven by the emergence of innovative services and the investment boom in the local O2O market. Local mobile Internet growth will also contribute to the expansion of the O2O market, according to the study. The total percentage of Brazil's population using 3G or 4G services is estimated to increase from 34.4% (2015) to 47.6% by 2018. Even considering the most conservative scenarios, the study reveals that the O2O sector's growth rate will remain in the double digits over the next several years, an index much higher than the rate recorded by the traditional economy.

"Even in this weak moment of the Brazilian economy we are living in during 2015, anyone who needs to hire a professional for housekeeping services, for example, finds problems to select a qualified one. Services like O2O can solve this imbalance between supply and demand, connecting professionals to the people or to the companies that need to hire them," said Fernando Okumura, vice president of the Brazilian O2O Association and CEO of the website Kekanto.

In some verticals like taxi orders and food delivery, O2O services already have strong support from Brazilian consumers. According to the Brazilian O2O Association's study, 20% of taxi bookings in most Brazilian cities are already carried out via smartphone apps. A similar level was recorded in the food delivery industry. One in five food delivery orders in Brazil is done via mobile apps. Taking into account all O2O verticals, however, Brazil is still in an early stage of development, which means there are significant opportunities for expansion.

The analysis conducted by the Brazilian O2O Association reveals that in the next few years the local market should experience an emergence of new O2O services, resulting in an increase in segmentation (new verticals), a phenomenon that has already occurred in mature O2O markets worldwide. As has already happened in developed markets, Brazil should also experience the emergence of "O2O app marketplaces", a kind of platform that combines different products and services into a single application with a single payment interface and a unique relationship channel with consumers.


Thursday, October 15, 2015

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Oct. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an independently operated subsidiary of Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and one of the largest Internet and mobile video service providers in China, today announced that it will enhance its paid subscription offering in 2016 by purchasing and producing over 40 new shows. The investment is expected to account for approximately 50% of iQIYI's overall budget for the full year 2016. iQIYI also announced that three famous Chinese stars, Yang Yang, Angelababy and Huang Bo will become image ambassadors for the iQIYI subscription business.

"Through our efforts over the years, iQIYI has grown to become China's leading online streaming website with the largest online paid subscriber base and the biggest collection of premium content," said Xianghua Yang, iQIYI senior vice president. "We are confident that subscription revenue will become a major revenue source for iQIYI, and we will continue to invest to provide the best premium content and user experience for our paid subscribers." 

With over 500 million users and 5 million paid subscribers, iQIYI has built one of the largest movie libraries in China's online video industry featuring over 6,000 titles, 2,500 of which are major Hollywood studio productions. iQIYI recently announced an agreement with Paramount Pictures to acquire the Internet broadcast rights for 800 existing and future movies. The company also signed a long-term deal with Lionsgate for a number of high-profile feature films.  

iQIYI's pioneering self-produced TV series "Notes of Tomb Raiders" was produced exclusively for online viewers and has enjoyed enormous popularity in China. The company adopted a new distribution model for its recently released show "Shu Shan Zhan Ji" to enable subscribers to access premium content prior to broadcast on television.


Thursday, September 10, 2015

Joint Venture

BEIJING, Sept. 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Qunar Cayman Islands Limited (NASDAQ:QUNR) ("Qunar" or the "Company"), China's leading mobile and online travel platform, today announced it has expanded its Board of Directors from seven to nine seats, and has appointed Liang Zeng, Yuming He, and Fang Wei as Directors. Hesong Tang has stepped down from the Board. The Company also announced that the employment contracts of Chenchao (CC) Zhuang, Qunar's Chief Executive Officer, and Yilu Zhao, its Chief Financial Officer, have been extended for four years, affirming the Board's confidence in the management team in driving Qunar's growth.

"We are very pleased to welcome Liang Zeng, Yuming He and Fang Wei to Qunar's Board. Together, they bring a wide array of experience in sales and marketing, investment strategy and finance and their addition further deepens the strategic relationship between Qunar and Baidu," said Mr. Robin Yanhong Li, Chairman of Qunar's Board of Directors. "Qunar's impressive business performance is a testament to the management team's robust execution capability, and these new board appointments further strengthen Qunar's ability to achieve its goal of becoming China's number one travel platform."

"I would also like to thank Hesong Tang for his important contributions and years of service to Qunar," continued Mr. Li.

"On behalf of the entire Qunar team, I look forward to working with our Board as we continue to innovate, grow our market share, and build value for all shareholders," said Chenchao (CC) Zhuang, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Qunar. "Baidu is our largest shareholder, and its continued support and dedication to our long-term vision is a welcome pillar in our strategic platform. These new Board members reflect the importance of our strategic partnership, as well as our commitment to further developing and executing opportunities for enhanced collaboration in a range of O2O initiatives and other related areas, including travel and payment."

As a result of new strategic collaboration initiatives between Qunar and Baidu, Qunar users will be able to access Baidu's extensive online to offline (O2O) supply chain in restaurant booking and food delivery, while Baidu will gain broader access to Qunar's travel products, expanding beyond hotels to park and attraction tickets, with more categories in the pipeline. Qunar is also an important Baidu Wallet merchant.

Liang Zeng serves as Baidu's vice president and general manager of its Nuomi unit, an online to offline service platform focused on connecting consumers to merchants. Previously, Mr. Zeng served as vice president of key account sales and marketing solution consulting at Baidu. Prior to joining Baidu, Mr. Zeng held senior positions at Microsoft as vice president of the Greater China Region and general manager of public sector group. Mr. Zeng holds an MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MS in Engineering from Tsinghua University.

Yuming He joined Baidu in August 2015 as executive director of strategic investment. Mr. He has more than 15 years of professional experience in overseas listings, fund investments, mergers and acquisitions, and strategy and planning for listed companies and growth companies across numerous industry sectors. Prior to joining Baidu, he held senior positions at Juntong Capital Management (HK) Co. Limited and Morgan Stanley, as well as earlier positions at J.P. Morgan, Disney, Paladin Capital and Lazard. Mr. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Fang Wei joined Baidu in 2006 and has served as senior director of finance at Baidu since January 2012. Previously, Mr. Wei was Baidu's director of finance and senior manager of information disclosure. Prior to joining Baidu, he was an audit manager at KPMG. Mr. Wei holds a BA from Capital University of Economics and Business and an EMBA from China Europe International Business School. 

The Board appointments are consistent with the investment interest Baidu has held in Qunar since 2011. To ensure the Company's continued operating independence, the Board's Audit Committee, which is responsible for the review and approval of all related party transactions, is composed entirely of independent directors, and independent directors also comprise a majority of the Board's Nominating and Compensation Committees.


Friday, August 28, 2015

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an independently operated subsidiary of Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) and one of the largest Internet and mobile video service providers in China, today announced that according to a recent report published by App Annie, iQIYI's mobile app, iQIYI Video HD, surged upwards on the worldwide charts in July 2015, gaining 10 spots by downloads and 9 spots by revenue.

According to the report, iQIYI Video HD currently ranks as the 6th most downloaded app worldwide and 9th by revenue. The app also ranked among the top five iOS Entertainment apps in China by monthly active users.

The report attributed iQIYI Video HD's surge in the worldwide rankings to iQIYI's growth in paid subscribers, driven by its "massive library of premium content", including popular TV shows such as Hua Qian Gu, Notes of Tomb Raiders and Extreme Challenge. The report also noted that with iQIYI's recently announced agreement with Paramount Pictures, iQIYI is well positioned to "upgrade a meaningful portion of its 500 million user base over to its paid offerings.


Thursday, July 30, 2015

Notable Share Transactions

BEIJING, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program under which the Company may repurchase up to US$1 billionof its shares over the next 12 months.

The Company's proposed repurchases may be made from time to time on the open market at prevailing market prices, in privately negotiated transactions, in block trades and/or through other legally permissible means, depending on market conditions and in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. The Company's board of directors will review the share repurchase program periodically, and may authorize adjustment of its terms and size. The Company plans to fund repurchases from its existing cash balance.


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Comments & Business Outlook

Second Quarter 2015 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the second quarter of 2015 were RMB16.575 billion ($2.673 billion), a 38.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2014. Mobile revenue represented 50% of total revenues for the second quarter of 2015, flat from the first quarter of 2015
  • Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the second quarter of 2015 were RMB10.19 ($1.64); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the second quarter of 2015 were RMB11.19 ($1.81).

"With Baidu's cornerstone search business delivering solid growth and enjoying ample runway ahead, and with powerful mobile gateways to leverage, we are ideally positioned to capture the O2O e-commerce opportunity and build the 'Next Baidu'," said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu. "As we continue to connect people with services and enable closed loop transactions, we are creating a transactional business model as Baidu grows and evolves in the age of mobile."

"We delivered solid financial results in the second quarter of 2015, with our core search business exhibiting strong growth and attractive profitability," said Jennifer Li, CFO of Baidu. "With the solid base of our core search business, coupled with upward momentum of our O2O e-commerce initiatives, we continue to invest decisively in the 'Next Baidu'. We are delighted by the progress we have achieved and are confident that these investments will generate long term shareholder value. Going forward, we will report the financial impact of the new initiatives, namely O2O & Other[2] and iQiyi."

Outlook for Third Quarter 2015

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB18.170 billion ($2.931 billion) to RMB18.580 billion ($2.997 billion) for the third quarter of 2015, representing a 34.4% to 37.4% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Deal Flow

BEIJING, June 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under an automatic shelf registration statement on Form F-3, pursuant to which the Company proposes to sell senior notes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.

The joint bookrunners of the offering are Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.

This notice is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States of America. Any public offering of these securities in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that contains detailed information about the issuer, which prospectus may be obtained free of charge from EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Company, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send an investor the prospectus if the investor requests it by calling Goldman, Sachs & Co. toll-free at 1-866-471-2526 or J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at 1-212-834-4533. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC and has become effective under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933.


Thursday, June 4, 2015

Joint Venture

BEIJING, June 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- VisionChina Media Inc. ("VisionChina Media" or the "Company") (VISN), China's largest out-of-home digital television advertising network on mass transportation systems and the leading provider of urban mass transit Wi-Fi, today announced the signing of a definitive Equity Subscription Agreement (the "Agreement") for approximately US$11.5 million of Series A equity for Shenzhen Qianhai VisionChina Mobile Interactive Co., Ltd. ("Qianhai Mobile"). Qianhai Mobile is a consolidated affiliate[1] of the Company engaged in the research, development and operation of mass transit Wi-Fi networks and the provision of mobile Internet value-added services in the PRC. The transaction was led by Beijing Baidu Netcom Science Technology Co., Ltd., a consolidated affiliate of Baidu Inc. (BIDU) and also included Guangdong Zhongke Baiyun New Industry Venture Investment Co., Ltd. and Dongguan Zhongke Zhongguang Venture Investment Co., Ltd., both of which are reputable national private equity investors in the PRC. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.


Monday, May 18, 2015

Joint Venture

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 18, 2015) - Taboola, the leading discovery platform, today announced a multi-million dollar strategic investment partnership with Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. The partnership brings together two cutting-edge technology companies that are re-defining the "search" and "discovery" categories across the world's biggest markets. Together, Taboola and Baidu plan to bring discovery to the Chinese market, where mobile is the number one way people go online.

The investment from Baidu is a follow-on to the $117 million Series E round of financing announced by Taboola this past February, and represents another significant vote of confidence in Taboola and the future of content discovery. Baidu ranks as the top website in China, and fourth most popular in the world (according to global traffic ranking firm Alexa), receiving tens of billions of search queries every day, about 75 percent of China's combined PC and mobile search market share.

Taboola has experienced massive growth since its inception in 2007, rising from less than $10 million annual revenue in 2012 to over $200 million in 2014. The Series E round in February was led by Fidelity Management and Research Company, and included existing investors Marker LLC���� and Steadfast Capital, as well as new strategic investors Advance Publications (parent of Cond� Nast and Advance Digital), Comcast Ventures, Mr. Carlo De Benedetti (chairman of the Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso), Groupe Arnault (the controlling shareholder of LVMH), Yahoo! JAPAN, and others.

"Though our roots are in China, Baidu actively seeks out innovative technology companies abroad to partner and invest with," said Peter Fang, senior director of Corporate Development at Baidu. "Taboola's remarkable vision and growth over the past few years captured the admiration of our executive team, and we're very excited about the potential of the discovery market worldwide."

Taboola serves more than 200 billion monthly content recommendations to over 550 million users across some of the Web's most innovative publisher sites in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Thailand, India, Japan and Israel.

Media and technology partners around the world have leveraged Taboola's technology to launch local initiatives. Italy-based Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso worked with Taboola on rolling out a new sponsored content business. Last year Taboola announced a strategic partnership with Yahoo! JAPAN to launch "Yahoo! Content Discovery," introducing content recommendations onto hundreds of premium partner sites across the Yahoo! Japan News network.

"We're extremely honored to gain the support of such an esteemed global partner as Baidu," said Adam Singolda, founder and CEO of Taboola. "We believe that discovery has massive growth potential in both existing and untapped markets around the world, and we plan to grow this new category even further with Baidu to help change the way people in China discover content they may like and never knew existed."

Taboola's predictive technology analyzes hundreds of real-time signals (including collaborative filtering, geography, social media trends, and more) to deliver highly-personalized content recommendations. Its platform includes sophisticated targeting capabilities for marketers, and first-of-its-kind content optimization tools for publishers that are provided free of charge.


Thursday, April 30, 2015

Comments & Business Outlook

First Quarter 2015 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the first quarter of 2015 were RMB12.725 billion ($2.053 billion), a 34.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2014. Mobile revenue represented 50% of total revenue for the first quarter of 2015, up from 42% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
  • Basic and diluted earnings per ADS for the first quarter of 2015 amounted to RMB6.79 ($1.09) and RMB6.76 ($1.09), respectively.

"Mobile's tremendous momentum continued this quarter, with mobile contributing 50% of total revenue," said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu. "Baidu is redefining the search box by building an ecosystem to connect people with services and drive closed loop transactions. Baidu's platform is comprehensive and robust, and we plan to fully exploit the huge growth potential ahead -- in mobile marketing, online to offline, and key select verticals such as healthcare, education and financial services -- by leveraging our solid mobile foundation, exceptional technology advantage, and proven operational experience."

"We continue to execute on our investment plan to capture the vast growth opportunities ahead and fulfill our vision," said Jennifer Li, chief financial officer of Baidu. "We are very pleased with the strong traction we have gained thus far and will continue to set our sights high for greater future progress."

Outlook for Second Quarter 2015

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB16.365 billion ($2.640 billion) to RMB16.750 billion ($2.702 billion) for the second quarter of 2015, representing a 36.5% to 39.7% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Thursday, February 12, 2015

Comments & Business Outlook

Fourth Quarter 2014 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2014 were RMB14.050 billion ($2.264 billion), a 47.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2013. Mobile revenue represented 42% of total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014, up from 36% in the third quarter of 2014.
  • Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the fourth quarter of 2014 were RMB9.01 ($1.45); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the fourth quarter of 2014 were RMB9.97 ($1.61).

"2014 was a year of remarkable accomplishment for Baidu. We've successfully transitioned from a PC-centric to a mobile-first company, positioning us well for the next phase of our mobile opportunity: connecting people with services," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "In December, for the first time search revenue from mobile surpassed PC."

"Robust mobile performance again drove our strong topline growth this quarter and underpinned the reacceleration of our revenue growth in 2014." said Jennifer Li, chief financial officer of Baidu. "The investments we've made in mobile over the last two years have clearly paid off and set the stage for Baidu to capture an even larger market opportunity. 2015 will be an important year for Baidu as we execute on our plan and invest for the next phase of mobile growth. For the upcoming quarter, our guidance reflects the combined impact of both the late timing of Chinese New Year this year and mobile's growing traffic contribution, which monetizes at a rate lower than that of PC. We expect mobile's monetization rate to trend up throughout the year."

Outlook for First Quarter 2015

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB12.645 billion ($2.038 billion) to RMB13.065 billion ($2.106 billion) for the first quarter of 2015, representing a 33.2% to 37.6% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Friday, January 23, 2015

Joint Venture

BEIJING, Jan. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an independently operated subsidiary of Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and one of the largest internet and mobile video service providers in China, today announced its strategic partnership with NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). The two companies will establish the iQIYI-NVIDIA Research and Development Center to enhance iQIYI's deep learning and media cloud computing capabilities using NVIDIA's Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) and deep learning architecture. Both sides will improve iQIYI's video platform for a more personalized viewing experience for Chinese users.

NVIDIA Vice President for Industry Business Development and Worldwide Sales Mr. Shanker Trivedi and iQIYI Chief Technology Officer Mr. Xing Tang

"Both companies share a passion for innovation in technology, which forms the basis for the iQIYI-NVIDIA Research and Development Center," said Mr. Xing Tang, iQIYI's Chief Technology Officer and Mr. Shanker Trivedi, NVIDIA's Vice President for Industry Business Development and Worldwide Sales.

iQIYI and NVIDIA will deploy a great deal of technology, including machine learning, cloud rendering, cloud gaming, and virtual desktop infrastructure, among others, to better meet the diversified demands of video production, management, marketing, and meeting viewer expectations.

"NVIDIA GPUs have an advantage in big data applications, and iQIYI has a huge amount of data. As part of our ongoing joint research and development with iQIYI, NVIDIA's machine learning capabilities could be greatly enhanced, and iQIYI will be able to better serve Chinese users," said Mr. Shanker Trivedi.

In 2014, iQIYI built the world's first center for studying and understanding online video content, iQIYI Brain, and worked with top companies in the area of deep learning. NVIDIA has maintained a friendly long-term relationship with iQIYI in software and hardware support and solutions and is the only company actively involved in deep learning ecosystems. The two companies are working closely in their strategic partnership in deep learning and the media cloud. NVIDIA will continue to provide support in research, cutting-edge hardware, and algorithms and, combined with iQIYI's nearly 300 terabytes of monthly video data, NVIDIA will help iQIYI improve the speed and precision of iQIYI Brain.

The applications for deep learning are becoming increasingly diversified, and visual special effects and realistic 3D games are increasing in popularity. As a leader in China's online video industry, iQIYI has also worked with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) on cooperative initiatives. iQIYI and NVIDIA 's continuing partnership will decrease video production costs, improve visual special effects, meet more diverse user needs, and expand cash incomes for the video-sharing industry. "The rapidly developing online video industry in China will benefit from the continued evolution of machine self-learning. By making iQIYI's video platform more intelligent, we will be able to tailor users' viewing experience based on customers' preferences. It will also allow producers to create exciting new content," said Mr. Xing Tang.


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Joint Venture

BEIJING, Jan. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an independently operated subsidiary of Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and one of the largest internet and mobile video service providers in China, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to enhance its high-efficiency online video platform.

As part of the cooperation, the companies will work together to improve iQIYI's video storage, trans-coding distribution, cloud computing, and big data analysis. Intel will be deeply involved in the transformation of iQIYI's data center and content distribution network with a number of cutting edge technologies, including the Intel Xeon processor, Intel PCIe/NVMe Solid State Drives (SSDs), and ten Gigabit Ethernet Adapters. The hardware, together with Intel's Virtualization Technology, will improve iQIYI's high-performance video platform with efficient and stable data storage and operation.

"We are very excited to be cooperating with Intel, a global technology leader, to further enhance iQIYI's ability to provide the highest quality online viewing experience," said iQIYI's Chief Technology Officer Mr. Xing Tang. "I am confident that this partnership will help us take iQIYI's technology leadership in China's online video industry to the next level."

Intel's General Manager of Consumption Sales Mr. Douglas Cougle said, "As an important partner of Intel, we look forward to working closely together with iQIYI to raise the technology bar in China's online video industry."

The Company's partnership with Intel follows its September 2014 cooperative initiative with Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) to improve the viewing experience on iQIYI through Dolby surround sound and other Dolby technology. Over the last five years, iQIYI has consistently sought to engage with top technology companies in pursuit of greater innovation.


Monday, November 10, 2014

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, November 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an independently operated subsidiary of Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and one of the largest Internet and mobile video service providers in China, today announced that it would buy distribution rights to over 1,000 U.S. movie titles in 2015 to satisfy growing demand from its users for U.S. content.

Over the last week, iQIYI CEO Gong Yu has led a team at the American Film Market ("AFM"), an event that attracts over 8,000 film industry professionals annually, to purchase content for Chinese viewers online.

"American movies are hugely popular in China. This summer U.S. films overtook Chinese and other international titles to become the most popular titles for paying viewers on iQIYI's platform," said Mr. Gong, "Through events like AFM we hope to expand our international partnerships, particularly for American motion pictures."

iQIYI Senior Vice President Yang Xianghua said, "We hope Hollywood studios can shorten the window between U.S. release and online release in China to ensure that our users see Hollywood movies at the earliest opportunity. This would combat piracy and increase the revenues that Hollywood and other American movies can earn from online paying users.

"As iQIYI charges 5RMB for Chinese audiences to watch new releases online, the same cost for a pirated DVD, if American movies can appear online in a timely manner then Chinese users would prefer a good quality online version to a pirated DVD."

In June of this year, iQIYI paying members watched more American movies than Chinese language movies for the first time ever. Views of American films also far surpassed those from other regions such as Korea and Europe. In September, Transformers 3 topped the list for online views with action pictures Killer Elite and the Hunger Games coming in number two and three, respectively.

Chinese viewers were also keen on science fiction and romance with Secretary and Season of the Witch in the top 10 for online views.


Thursday, October 30, 2014

Comments & Business Outlook

Third Quarter 2014 Finanncial Results

  • Total revenues in the third quarter of 2014 were RMB13.520 billion ($2.203 billion), a 52.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2013.
  • Basic and diluted earnings per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2014 amounted to RMB11.72 ($1.91) and RMB11.67 ($1.90), respectively.

"We had another very strong quarter as we continued to leverage our tremendous assets, especially in mobile. This quarter, mobile traffic surpassed PC traffic and mobile revenue contributed 36% of our total revenue[2]. We are particularly pleased with the progress we have made in connecting people with services through innovative O2O initiatives like Baidu Connect————a better way for businesses to connect with their targeted consumers on mobile devices," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "It's an exciting time for Baidu. The O2O market opportunity is enormous, and our leading positions in mobile search and maps, as well as our extensive sales force, position us optimally to capture that opportunity."

"In the third quarter, our investments in mobile continued to pay off as mobile proved once again to be a strong driver of topline growth," said Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer. "To fulfill our vision of connecting people with services and to realize the vast opportunities that mobile brings, we will continue to invest aggressively but judiciously."

Outlook for Fourth Quarter 2014

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB13.850 billion ($2.256 billion) to RMB14.250 billion ($2.322 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2014, representing a 45.4% to 49.6% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change


Monday, September 22, 2014

Joint Venture

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- HPC for Wall Street 2014 -- Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), China's largest online search engine, are collaborating on using FPGAs and convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms for deep learning applications set to play a critical role in the development of more accurate and faster online search. Altera is demonstrating its work with Baidu at the High Performance Computing (HPC) for Wall Street conference in New York City, taking place on September 22, 2014.

The Altera-Baidu demonstration (booth #215B) illustrates how much faster image classification can take place using FPGA-accelerated CNNs. In key search functions, such as image classification and recognition tasks, CNNs are considered to be the state-of-the-art and provide record-setting accuracy. Baidu is leveraging Altera Stratix� V FPGAs and the Altera SDK for OpenCL�, which achieved Khronos OpenCL conformance testing certification in May 2013, to dramatically simplify the implementation of parallel processing applications.

Baidu Research Distinguished Scientist Dr. Ren Wu said, "Baidu is a pioneer and leader in both deep learning and heterogeneous computing, and we believe FPGA acceleration has great potential. OpenCL support is a game changer and will help FPGAs penetrate the mainstream heterogeneous computing world. It opens doors for countless opportunities."

Altera's data center technology offerings are based on the company's high performance Stratix� V and Arria� 10 FPGAs, and next-generation Stratix 10 FPGAs and SoCs, which are manufactured using the Intel 14 nm Tri-Gate process and feature Altera's high-performance HyperFlex� architecture. Altera's FPGAs combine unprecedented reconfigurable logic with on-chip memory and DSP blocks, enabling the high performance and flexibility required by the demanding data center environment.

"Baidu and Altera are demonstrating a compelling heterogeneous computing approach to CNN algorithm acceleration," said Altera Compute and Storage Business Unit Director Michael Strickland. "The programmability and features, such as hard IEEE 754 floating point multipliers and adders in Altera FPGAs, enable servers and data centers to keep up and evolve with complex requirements in search, big data and deep learning."


Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, CHINA and MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA and OULU, FINLAND--(Marketwired - Sep 2, 2014) - IndoorAtlas, the global leader in magnetic positioning technology for indoor location, today announced that it has agreed to a $10 million investment from Baidu (NASDAQBIDU), the world's leading Chinese search engine. IndoorAtlas also announced it is signing an exclusive agreement for the Chinese market with Baidu. Through this partnership, Baidu intends to strengthen its indoor mapping offering with cutting-edge technology that will be unique in China.

IndoorAtlas uses earth's geomagnetic field to pinpoint the exact location inside a building with an accuracy of two meters.

"We are excited to have an Internet company like Baidu as our partner as we grow and expand our footprint," said Professor Janne Haverinen, Founder & CEO of IndoorAtlas. "With this partnership, we now have access to over 1.34 billion potential subscribers at one go. We see this as a huge opportunity not just to make a mark in Asia, but globally, and to make indoor location services ubiquitous and available to everyone."

The company will be using the funding towards ramping up R&D, engineering and business development in the US, Asia, and Europe.

"IndoorAtlas's accuracy and scalability is second to none and clearly complements Baidu's existing mobile Location Based Services (LBS) and maps offering," said Baidu vice president Liu Jun, who leads the company's LBS business unit. "IndoorAtlas's intellectual property portfolio and global geographical coverage will be instrumental in helping us at Baidu build out our LBS platform for local merchants in China and abroad."

"IndoorAtlas is very excited to have Baidu, one of strongest Internet players not only in China but also globally to participate in our Series A round," said Inka Mero, Chairwoman of IndoorAtlas and Co-Founder and Chairwoman of Koppicatch. Inka has played a key role in the growth and expansion of IndoorAtlas in Europe and US since its inception, and led the discussions with Baidu for this funding round. "This represents an infusion of funds to aggressively continue our growth in the US and also gives us a unique opportunity to make quick inroads into Asia, specifically the Chinese market, which in many ways is leading the way for indoor location based services. From the very beginning of discussions, we felt there is great match in terms of strategy, competencies and assets. We could not have asked for a better investor and partner in terms of indoor location based services expertise, sheer scale of operation and industry specific know-how."

Baidu will highlight the first IndoorAtlas solution customized for the Baidu Maps app at its annual Baidu World conference, being held in Beijing on September 3rd.

"The competition in this space is heating up as the largest global players who have so far focused on the outdoors now turn towards mapping the indoors in the most cost effective and scalable way," said Greg Sterling, Senior Analyst at Opus Research, a firm specializing in Indoor location and proximity marketing. "With this deal, Baidu is clearly endorsing the idea that magnetic positioning is fast emerging as the GPS of indoors, the foundational solution complemented with Wi-Fi, PDR, and BLE technologies."

Opus Research recently published a report which predicts magnetic positioning will emerge as the "foundational" technology for indoor location globally. The report finds that while magnetic positioning can be used as a stand-alone technology, it can also complement existing Wi-Fi infrastructure. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, such as iBeacon, have recently garnered attention and emerged as another way to provide indoor location services. Yet beacons have limitations as they can only detect and manage proximity between themselves and handset location. They can't offer "moving blue dot" positioning inside a store or precise latitude-longitude coordinates, the report says.

"With this strategic alliance in place, Baidu will continue to not just lead innovation in the space but also make inroads towards establishing global leadership in indoor positioning," said Sterling . "It is a hotly contested and lucrative space with billions of advertising dollars at stake."


Friday, July 25, 2014

Comments & Business Outlook

Second Quarter 2014 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the second quarter of 2014 were RMB11.986 billion ($1.932 billion), a 58.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2013.
  • Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the second quarter of 2014 were RMB10.72 ($1.73) vs. last years RMB7.75 ($1.26).

"We had a great quarter as we continued to build very strong mobile momentum. As the clear leader in mobile search, mobile map and app distribution, mobile revenue for the first time ever contributed to 30 percent of our total revenue", said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "We deepened our investment in advanced technologies like Deep Learning, which is already yielding near term enhancements in user experience and customer ROI and is expected to drive transformational change over the longer term."

Mr. Li continued,"Baidu's scope now embraces 'connecting people with services', and we will continue leveraging our vast traffic resources, deep product portfolio and world class technology to fulfill this broader mission. Whether a user is looking for information, content or services, Baidu offers a seamless, integrated experience, from query to fulfillment."

"In the second quarter, revenue remained on a solid growth trajectory, with mobile as an integral part of our business that is a clear driver of our topline," commented Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer. "We will continue to invest in product and technology to deepen our market leadership and fulfill our long-term vision."

Outlook for Third Quarter 2014

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB13.420 billion ($2.163 billion) to RMB13.780 billion ($2.221 billion) for the third quarter of 2014, representing a 50.9% to 55.0% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Thursday, June 5, 2014

Deal Flow

BEIJING, June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced the pricing of its public offering of US$1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 2.750% notes due 2019. The notes have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.

The Company expects to receive net proceeds from the offering of approximately US$988.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.


Joint Venture

BEIJING, June 5 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitauto Holdings Limited ("Bitauto" or the "Company") (NYSE: BITA), a leading provider of internet content and marketing services for China's fast-growing automotive industry, today announced that it has been selected by Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu") (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language internet search provider, to be the exclusive supplier for auto-related content on the mobile version of Aladdin, Baidu's Open Data Platform, until December 31, 2014.

William Bin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Bitauto, said, "We are delighted to partner with Baidu and to continue providing mobile users with quick and easy access to Bitauto's high quality and comprehensive auto-related content. This partnership further strengthens our leadership in the fast growing mobile space and will help drive traffic to our online platforms. It also demonstrates our commitment to executing on one of our core strategies to invest in and capture opportunities to develop mobile offerings for China's auto industry. This is particularly pertinent now as mobile-based offerings are increasingly delivering improved results compared with PC offerings, particularly in terms of effective sales lead generation. In the month of May, over 55% of general sales leads were generated via mobile. Furthermore, based on third party data from iResearch, Bitauto's mobile sites ranked first in terms of monthly active users in the month of April, more than 60% higher than the closest competitor."

Andy Zhang, chief financial officer of Bitauto, added, "Our new mobile content partnership with Baidu will effectively support Bitauto's diversified branding and traffic acquisition strategies. We prudently evaluate potential branding and traffic-generating opportunities against our own ROI criteria to ensure the most effective marketing spend."


Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Deal Flow

BEIJING, June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under an automatic shelf registration statement on Form F-3, pursuant to which the Company proposes to sell senior notes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.


Friday, April 25, 2014

Comments & Business Outlook

First Quarter 2014 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the first quarter of 2014 were RMB9.497 billion ($1.528 billion), a 59.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2013.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the first quarter of 2014 was RMB2.535 billion ($407.8 million), a 24.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2013. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the first quarter of 2014 were RMB7.21 ($1.16); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the first quarter of 2014 were RMB7.69 ($1.24)

"We started the year with impressive revenue growth, which accelerated for the third consecutive quarter," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "Our focus remained on growing our market-leading offerings in search and app distribution, and we continued to broaden our platform in newer areas like location-based services."

Mr. Li continued, "As the Internet disrupts more and more traditional industries, and mobile's importance continues to grow, Baidu is uniquely positioned with our competitive advantage as a leading cross-platform information gateway with world class technology. We're confident our focused approach to investment will continue to drive sustainable growth in the quarters ahead."

"In the first quarter, our core search business once again drove strong top-line growth," commented Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer. "We'll continue to invest aggressively in our core business and key strategic focus areas to support Baidu's long-term industry leadership."

Outlook for Second Quarter 2014

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB11.820 billion ($1.901 billion) to RMB12.110 billion ($1.948 billion) for the second quarter of 2014, representing a 56.3% to 60.2% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Thursday, February 27, 2014

Comments & Business Outlook

Fourth Quarter 2013 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2013 were RMB9.523 billion ($1.573 billion), a 50.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2012.
  • Basic and diluted earnings per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the fourth quarter of 2013 amounted to RMB8.43 ($1.39) and RMB8.40 ($1.39), respectively vs. last years

"We're pleased to have finished a milestone year for Baidu with a solid fourth quarter performance," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "2013 was marked by our entry into new areas and significant progress in mobile, as we invested aggressively to build out Baidu's position in search, app distribution, and location-based services. Our efforts to drive mobile adoption among customers gained significant traction throughout the year. In the fourth quarter, mobile accounted for over 20% of total revenues."

Mr. Li continued, "Building out our platform to capture the huge opportunities ahead remains our focus for 2014. We are confident that Baidu's technology DNA and unparalleled data capabilities will be crucial competitive advantages as China'sInternet landscape continues to shift."

"We delivered solid top line growth in 2013, and the increasing revenue contribution from mobile over the last several quarters has been especially encouraging," commented Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer. "Our investments helped to lay a strong foundation for sustainable growth across our business. Looking ahead, we will continue to expand the Baidu platform and invest aggressively in R&D, sales and marketing and infrastructure during this crucial period of market transformation."

Outlook for First Quarter 2014

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB9.240 billion ($1.526 billion) to RMB9.520 billion ($1.573 billion) for the first quarter of 2014, representing a 54.8% to 59.5% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Joint Venture

BEIJING, January 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VisionChina Media Inc. ("VisionChina Media" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: VISN), one of China's largest out-of-home digital television advertising networks on mass transportation systems, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive strategic cooperation agreement ("Agreement") with Baidu Games, the online game platform of Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), to promote the Baidu Games brand and Baidu's gaming products across VisionChina Media's digital television advertising networks nationwide.

Under the terms of the Agreement, VisionChina Media will act as the exclusive digital mobile television advertising partner of Baidu Games and provide brand promotion and advertising placement solutions for Baidu Games throughout VisionChina Media's national media networks on buses and subways in 2014.

"We are proud to announce this exclusive strategic cooperation with Baidu Games," said Mr. Limin Li, VisionChina Media's chairman and chief executive officer. "This deal is representative of our advertising service capabilities and the success we've had in working with China's gaming industry. With our ability to reach, through both exclusive and non-exclusive partnerships, China's above-ground bus networks in 88 cities and underground subway networks in 14 cities, covering nearly 600 million person-time on daily basis, we are an ideal fit for helping Baidu Games raise its brand profile and improve its penetration and conversion rates in turning offline audiences into new online players. Furthermore, our cooperation with Baidu Games will further solidify our leading position with respect to gaming advertising and promotion in China's out-of-home media sector."


Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Comments & Business Outlook

Third Quarter 2013 Financial Results

  • Total revenues of RMB8.892 billion ($1.453 billion) for the third quarter of 2013, representing a 42.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2012.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the third quarter of 2013 was RMB3.048 billion ($498.0 million), a 1.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2012. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the third quarter of 2013 wereRMB8.63 ($1.41); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses(non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2013 were RMB9.04 ($1.48).

"We were pleased to see strong results in the third quarter as revenue remained on a solid growth trajectory," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "Mobile search revenues in particular continued to grow at an exciting pace as more of our customers recognize the benefits of mobile marketing on the Baidu platform."

Mr. Li continued, "I am proud of the progress we made during the quarter. Our flagship mobile products like search and maps continue to gain momentum. We solidified our mobile native app distribution capabilities with the 91 Wireless acquisition. And we introduced search-enabled Light Apps, which will allow users to more easily discover long tail app content, and will offer developers a powerful distribution channel in Baidu mobile search."

"Our focus on investment continues, and we are now seeing real returns, particularly in mobile user adoption and in monetization," commented Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer. "In the quarters ahead, we will continue to invest aggressively in order to position ourselves well in this rapidly developing mobile market."

Outlook for Fourth Quarter 2013

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB9.220 billion ($1.507 billion) to RMB9.480 billion($1.549 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2013, representing a 45.5% to 49.6% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Friday, August 23, 2013

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, August 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, and Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) ("Renren"), a leading real-name social networking Internet platform in China, jointly announced today that Baidu Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Baidu, and Renren have entered into a definitive agreement (the "Agreement"), pursuant to which Baidu Holdings Limited will acquire a certain number of newly issued ordinary shares of Nuomi Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renren, representing approximately 59% of the equity interest in Nuomi, for a purchase price of US$160 million in cash. Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the closing conditions provided in the Agreement, the parties expect to close this acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Founded by Renren in 2010, Nuomi is a leading provider of group-buying services in China. In the second quarter of 2013, Nuomi generated approximately US$120 million in general merchandise sales and had 3.8 million active paying users. Of the sales transacted on Nuomi during that period, 30% were derived from mobile devices.

"Nuomi's group-buying platform and high-quality local information clearly complement Baidu's existing mobile LBS and maps offering," said Jennifer Li, chief financial officer of Baidu. "Nuomi's broad geographical sales coverage and established consumer base will be instrumental in helping Baidu build out our LBS platform for local merchants."

"We believe the group-buying business has tremendous potential in China and will continue to benefit from the rapid growth of the mobile Internet. Baidu's strategic investment will further enhance Nuomi's position in this sector and we are very excited about the synergies it creates. We look forward to Nuomi's great prospects and the value it will bring to its shareholders," added Joseph Chen, chairman and chief executive officer of Renren.


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, August 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Baidu (Hong Kong) Limited has signed a definitive merger agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire a 100 percent equity interest in 91 Wireless Websoft Limited ("91 Wireless") from NetDragon Websoft Inc. (HKEx:777) ("NetDragon") and other shareholders. 91 Wireless is one of the leading mobile app marketplaces and mobile game operators in China. In the month of July 2013, Baidu and 91 Wireless users in China together downloaded a daily average of 69 million apps. The large majority of these were downloaded directly from mobile devices.

Pursuant to the Agreement, through a merger, Baidu will acquire 100 percent of 91 Wireless in cash. This includes the 57.4 percent stake owned by NetDragon, and the remaining shares from other shareholders. According to the memorandum of understanding dated July 15, 2013, the merger consideration amounts to a total of US$1.90 billion. Having taken into account the conditional declaration of a special dividend in the aggregate amount of approximately US$52.06 million by 91 Wireless to its existing shareholders, the consideration is now adjusted to an aggregate amount of US$1.85 billion in the Agreement.

"The acquisition of 91 Wireless significantly strengthens our mobile app distribution capability, and further enhances Baidu's prime position in China's thriving mobile ecosystem," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "91 Wireless is not only a leading app market, but just as importantly, is a leading operator of mobile games, which are seeing tremendous growth in China. This acquisition reinforces Baidu's commitment to growing and fostering the developer community, establishes Baidu's position in the flourishing mobile game segment, and offers Baidu another strong channel to deliver its market-leading app offerings."

Mr. Joe Wu, CEO of 91 Wireless, commented, "91 Wireless has built up a broad and loyal developer base over the years, and synergies with the Baidu platform, like access to Baidu's vast traffic resources and sophisticated cloud infrastructure, should accelerate our already impressive growth. Moreover, their expertise in big data analytics and search will allow us to significantly enhance the user experience. We look forward to becoming a valuable component of the Baidu ecosystem."

Following the completion of the transaction, 91 Wireless will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Baidu and will continue to operate under its existing management team as an independent company. Baidu expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions and approval by NetDragon's independent shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting.


Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Deal Flow

BEIJING, July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced the pricing of its public offering of US$1 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.250% notes due 2018. The notes have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.

The Company expects to receive net proceeds from the offering of approximately US$994.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated net offering expenses. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including merger and acquisition activities.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Comments & Business Outlook

Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results

  • Total revenues in the second quarter of 2013 were RMB7.561 billion ($1.232 billion), a 38.6% increase from the corresponding period in 2012.
  • Operating profit in the second quarter of 2013 was RMB2.904 billion ($473.1 million), a 3.2% increase from the corresponding period in 2012.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the second quarter of 2013 was RMB2.644 billion ($430.8 million), a 4.5% decrease from the corresponding period in 2012. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the second quarter of 2013 were RMB7.52 ($1.22); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the second quarter of 2013 were RMB7.75 ($1.26).

"We made solid progress in the second quarter, adding a record 58,000 online active customers," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "The adoption of our mobile platform gained momentum and mobile monetization improved. Mobile revenues for the first time accounted for over 10% of our total revenues this quarter."

Mr. Li continued, "Our recent investments have further strengthened Baidu's position in key strategic areas such as search, LBS, app distribution and online video. Our market-leading technology, innovative new products and unrivaled customer value proposition will keep us at the heart of the Internet in China."

"We are encouraged to see clear progress in key investment areas," commented Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer. "We will continue to invest aggressively and remain committed to building long-term value for our shareholders."

Outlook for Third Quarter 2013

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB8.730 billion ($1.422 billion) to RMB8.960 billion ($1.460 billion) for the third quarter of 2013, representing a 39.7% to 43.3% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, July 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") on the Proposed Acquisition of all equity interests in 91 Wireless Websoft Limited ("91 Wireless") from NetDragon (HKEx:777).

Pursuant to the MOU, Baidu will purchase the entire issued share capital of 91 Wireless for a total of US$1.9 billion. Baidu and NetDragon will further negotiate and agree on the relevant terms of the Proposed Acquisition in the definitive agreements by 14 August 2013 ("the Long Stop Date") to purchase NetDragon's 57.41% equity interest in 91 Wireless. Before the signing of definitive agreements or the Long Stop Date (whichever is earlier), NetDragon is restricted from approaching or discussing with any third parties the sale of 91 Wireless. Baidu intends to purchase the remaining equity interests in 91 Wireless from other shareholders based on terms and conditions similar to those offered to NetDragon, provided those shareholders are willing to sell by the Long Stop Date.


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, May 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced the acquisition of the online video business of leading Internet video provider PPS for US $370 million.

Baidu and PPS expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, the PPS online video business will be consolidated into Baidu's financial statements. PPS's online video business will be merged with Baidu's own video platform iQiyi.

The combined entity will become China's largest online video platform by number of mobile users and video viewing time. PPS will continue to operate as a sub-brand of iQiyi.

iQiyi CEO Gong Yu said: "The merger of iQiyi and PPS's online video business is a major step toward consolidation in the industry and will contribute to the development of China's Internet video industry. The merger will generate significant synergies, and will provide for an improved user experience as well as more and better content. It will also deliver better marketing value and a wider range of options for advertisers. The merger of iQiyi and PPS -- both companies with strong technology DNA -- lays a solid foundation for iQiyi to become a great technology company with strong media DNA as well."

PPS founder and Chairman Zhang Hongyu said: "As a leading Chinese online video brand with an eight year history, PPS has the opportunity to join with iQiyi in opening up future markets, and we are excited to be working together to reshape the industry. We will strive to maximize the value of our combined resources and integrated teams, and we will jointly contribute to the progress and maturation of China's video industry."

After the acquisition, Gong Yu will continue to be CEO of iQiyi. Zhang Hongyu and PPS president Xu Weifeng will serve as co-presidents at iQiyi, and will be in charge of the PPS sub-brand and new business development


Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, May 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced the acquisition of the online video business of leading Internet video provider PPS for US $370 million.

Baidu and PPS expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, the PPS online video business will be consolidated into Baidu's financial statements. PPS's online video business will be merged with Baidu's own video platform iQiyi. 

The combined entity will become China's largest online video platform by number of mobile users and video viewing time. PPS will continue to operate as a sub-brand of iQiyi.

iQiyi CEO Gong Yu said: "The merger of iQiyi and PPS's online video business is a major step toward consolidation in the industry and will contribute to the development of China's Internet video industry. The merger will generate significant synergies, and will provide for an improved user experience as well as more and better content. It will also deliver better marketing value and a wider range of options for advertisers. The merger of iQiyi and PPS -- both companies with strong technology DNA -- lays a solid foundation for iQiyi to become a great technology company with strong media DNA as well."

PPS founder and Chairman Zhang Hongyu said: "As a leading Chinese online video brand with an eight year history, PPS has the opportunity to join with iQiyi in opening up future markets, and we are excited to be working together to reshape the industry. We will strive to maximize the value of our combined resources and integrated teams, and we will jointly contribute to the progress and maturation of China's video industry."

After the acquisition, Gong Yu will continue to be CEO of iQiyi. Zhang Hongyu and PPS president Xu Weifeng will serve as co-presidents at iQiyi, and will be in charge of the PPS sub-brand and new business development.


Friday, April 26, 2013

Comments & Business Outlook

First Quarter 2013 Results

  • Total revenues in the first quarter of 2013 were RMB5.969 billion ($961.0 million), a 40.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2012.
  • Operating profit in the first quarter of 2013 was RMB2.210 billion ($355.9 million), a 5.7% increase from the corresponding period in 2012.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the first quarter of 2013 was RMB2.043 billion ($328.9 million), an 8.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2012. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the first quarter of 2013 were RMB5.88 ($0.95); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the first quarter of 2013 were RMB6.20 ($1.00).

"We saw healthy financial results in the first quarter of 2013 as we continued to invest in establishing China's leading mobile ecosystem." said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "Our mobile offering is making exciting progress, with our flagship mobile search product having now surpassed 100 million daily active users, an over 25% increase from the end of the fourth quarter."

Mr. Li continued, "Continually developing the most advanced search technology remains central to Baidu's overall strategy, and we're very excited by the possibilities opened up by innovation in image and voice recognition. Our focus will remain on tightly integrating our leading search core with valuable vertical products in areas such as travel, e-commerce and location based services to bring users the information they want as quickly as possible on both desktop and mobile devices."

Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, commented, "We remain committed to investing aggressively, particularly in marketing and R&D. By deploying resources in the most strategically important areas of our business, we're confident we can build exceptional long-term value for shareholders. For the quarter, we also recognized a whole quarter consolidation of iQiyi."

Outlook for Second Quarter 2013

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB7.370 billion ($1.187 billion) to RMB7.550 billion ($1.216 billion) for the second quarter of 2013, representing a 35.1% to 38.4% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Direct Offering

BEIJING, November 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has filed an automatic shelf registration statement on Form F-3 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and a preliminary prospectus supplement under the registration statement, pursuant to which the Company proposes to sell senior notes which will be issued in two tranches. The Company intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to retire certain existing debt and the remainder for general corporate purposes.

The joint bookrunners of the offering are J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C.

This notice is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States of America. Any public offering of these securities in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that contains detailed information about the issuer, which prospectus may be obtained free of charge from EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Company, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send an investor the prospectus if the investor requests it by calling 1-212-834-4533. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC and has become effective under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933.

This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the applicable securities laws of any jurisdiction outside of the United States of America.


Friday, November 2, 2012

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, November 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with Providence Equity Partners ("Providence") pursuant to which Baidu will purchase shares of iQiyi.com ("iQiyi") held by Providence for an undisclosed amount. Upon completion, Baidu will have a substantial majority stake in iQiyi.

iQiyi, launched in April 2010 and known as "Qiyi" until November 2011, is the first online video platform in China to focus exclusively on fully licensed, high-definition and professionally-produced content. In August 2012, iQiyi was ranked as the number one online video platform in China in terms of average time spent per user and number two in terms of total monthly time spent, according to iResearch, a China-based research firm.

Baidu and Providence expect the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2012, subject to customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, iQiyi will be consolidated into Baidu's financial statements. iQiyi will continue to operate as a separate brand with its existing management team.

"Online video is a key strategic vertical for Baidu as user numbers and time-spend continue to increase exponentially, underscoring the tremendous potential in the sector," said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu. "We are very pleased with the progress iQiyi has made and have confidence that iQiyi's management will continue to grow its leading position. Going forward, we see users spending more and more time on online video and we will integrate iQiyi's content more seamlessly into Baidu's overall search and mobile services."

Mr. Li added, "I want to extend my appreciation to the Providence team for their contribution to and support of iQiyi over the last two-and-a-half years."

Dr. Yu Gong, founder and CEO of iQiyi, added, "iQiyi has established a great business foundation and strong brand recognition and we look forward to leveraging our relationship with Baidu to further drive superior user and advertising customer experience."


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Comments & Business Outlook

Third Quarter 2012 Highlights

  • Total revenues in the third quarter of 2012 were RMB6.251 billion ($994.6 million), a 49.7% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Operating profit in the third quarter of 2012 was RMB3.297 billion ($524.6 million), a 48.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the third quarter of 2012 was RMB3.008 billion ($478.6 million), a 59.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2011. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the third quarter of 2012 were RMB8.59 ($1.37); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2012 were RMB8.76 (1.39).

    "We are pleased to report a solid performance for the third quarter driven by encouraging customer growth and improvements to our monetization platform," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu.

    "During the quarter, we worked to improve user experience by more closely integrating Baidu's suite of market-leading vertical products with Web search," continued Mr. Li. "Mobile and cloud represent our vision for the future of China's Internet, and Baidu will continue to proactively drive the development of this crucial ecosystem. We stand ready to meet the challenges and capture the opportunities the PC-to-mobile transition presents."

    Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, commented, "In the third quarter, we saw solid profitability as we continued our strategy of investing in key areas of future growth, particularly mobile and cloud. In the quarters ahead, we will look to accelerate the pace of investment to achieve long-term, sustainable growth."

Outlook for Fourth Quarter 2012

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB6.155 billion ($979.3 million) to RMB6.345 billion ($1.010 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2012, representing a 37.6% to 41.8% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Comments & Business Outlook

Second Quarter 2012 Highlights

  • Total revenues in the second quarter of 2012 were RMB5.456 billion ($858.8 million), a 59.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Operating profit in the second quarter of 2012 was RMB2.815 billion ($443.1 million), a 51.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the second quarter of 2012 was RMB2.770 billion ($436.0 million), a 69.6% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the second quarter of 2012 were RMB7.86 ($1.24);
  • Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the second quarter of 2012 were RMB8.01($1.26).

"We are pleased to announce strong results for the second quarter despite macro headwinds and challenging comparisons with the same period last year," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "Our efforts to expand our customer base continue to make solid progress."

Mr. Li continued, "In the coming quarters, we will maintain momentum by rolling out optimized sales processes and more advanced tools to help current and potential customers increase returns on their online marketing spend. We will also continue to actively explore the vast opportunities in China's fast-emerging mobile Internet and cloud sectors."

Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, commented, "We once again posted solid growth on the top and bottom lines even as we continued to invest aggressively in expanding our network infrastructure and talent base. Moving forward, this robust investment strategy will be key to achieving long-term, sustainable growth and strengthening Baidu's position at the heart of China's Internet ecosystem."

Outlook for Third Quarter 2012

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB6.245 billion($983.0 million) to RMB6.410 billion ($1.009 billion) for the third quarter of 2012, representing a 49.6% to 53.5% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Monday, July 23, 2012

Comments & Business Outlook

Second Quarter 2012 Results

  • Total revenues in the second quarter of 2012 were RMB5.456 billion ($858.8 million), a 59.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Operating profit in the second quarter of 2012 was RMB2.815 billion ($443.1 million), a 51.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the second quarter of 2012 was RMB2.770 billion ($436.0 million), a 69.6% increase from the corresponding period in 2011. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the second quarter of 2012 were RMB7.86 ($1.24); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the second quarter of 2012 were RMB8.01 ($1.26).

"We are pleased to announce strong results for the second quarter despite macro headwinds and challenging comparisons with the same period last year," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "Our efforts to expand our customer base continue to make solid progress."

Mr. Li continued, "In the coming quarters, we will maintain momentum by rolling out optimized sales processes and more advanced tools to help current and potential customers increase returns on their online marketing spend. We will also continue to actively explore the vast opportunities in China's fast-emerging mobile Internet and cloud sectors."

Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, commented, "We once again posted solid growth on the top and bottom lines even as we continued to invest aggressively in expanding our network infrastructure and talent base. Moving forward, this robust investment strategy will be key to achieving long-term, sustainable growth and strengthening Baidu's position at the heart of China's Internet ecosystem."

Outlook for Third Quarter 2012

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB6.245 billion ($983.0 million) to RMB6.410 billion ($1.009 billion) for the third quarter of 2012, representing a 49.6% to 53.5% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Comments & Business Outlook

First Quarter 2012 Results

  • Total revenues in the first quarter of 2012 were RMB4.264 billion ($677.1 million), a 75.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Operating profit in the first quarter of 2012 was RMB2.091 billion ($332.1 million), a 75.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2011.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the first quarter of 2012 was RMB1.883 billion ($299.0 million), a 75.9% increase from the corresponding period in 2011. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for the first quarter of 2012 were RMB5.38($0.85); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the first quarter of 2012 were RMB5.48 ($0.87).

"We've started the year with solid financial results and steady business progress," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "Although this is usually a seasonally slow quarter, our effective sales and marketing efforts enabled us to expand our SME customer base significantly."

Mr. Li continued, "China's Internet landscape is evolving quickly and we are very excited about fast-emerging opportunities in areas such as mobile and Cloud Computing. We believe that Baidu is uniquely positioned to capture this immense growth potential in the Chinese online market."

Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, commented, "We kept up our pace of investment in talent and network infrastructure in the first quarter in support of our long-term growth initiatives. We are committed to this aggressive investment strategy for the year ahead and will maintain our focus on managing operational efficiency to ensure sustainable growth."

Outlook for Second Quarter 2012

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB5.335 billion ($847.2 million) to RMB5.460 billion ($867.0 million) for the second quarter of 2012, representing a 56.2% to 59.9% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Monday, March 19, 2012

Joint Venture

LONGMONT, CO--(Marketwire - Mar 19, 2012) - DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI), a leading global provider of high-resolution earth imagery solutions, today announced that China's most influential internet search portal, Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ("Baidu"), has signed a subscription for DigitalGlobe high-resolution imagery covering 344 cities in China.

This agreement will enable Baidu to provide its end-users with a more robust online mapping experience in Baidu Maps and its third-party developers with increased functionality in its Baidu Maps application programming interface (API) for location-based services.

Baidu is the world's largest Chinese search engine and is China's largest online advertiser, with 80 percent market share and over 50 percent year-over-year growth.

"Baidu is excited to enter into a new relationship for DigitalGlobe imagery as we continue to grow and expand our online location-based services," said Dongchen Zhang, head of business development at Baidu. "With this agreement, Baidu can offer new ways for users to engage with the Internet while continuing to solidify Baidu's presence at the heart of China's Internet ecosystem."

DigitalGlobe's industry-leading ImageLibrary offers customers over 85 million square kilometers (km2) of highly accurate imagery in China, and over two billion km2 of imagery worldwide.

"China is one of DigitalGlobe's most strategic geographic markets, and establishing this relationship with Baidu is an important step in strengthening our position in the Chinese consumer segment," said Rafay Khan, senior vice president at DigitalGlobe. "Our ever-growing ImageLibrary continues to outpace our competition, and gives us a considerable edge in rapidly changing countries like China."


Friday, February 17, 2012

Comments & Business Outlook

Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2011 Highlights

  • Total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011 were RMB4.474 billion ($710.9 million), an 82.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.
  • Total revenues in fiscal year 2011 were RMB14.501 billion ($2.304 billion), an 83.2% increase from 2010.
  • Operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2011 was RMB2.297 billion ($365.0 million), an 80.2% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.
  • Operating profit in fiscal year 2011 was RMB7.577 billion ($1.204 billion), a 91.4% increase from 2010.
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the fourth quarter of 2011 was RMB2.054 billion ($326.3 million), a 76.9% increase from the corresponding period in 2010. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS(2)for the fourth quarter of 2011 was RMB5.87 ($0.93); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADSexcluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the fourth quarter of 2011 was RMB6.01($0.95).
  • Net income attributable to Baidu in fiscal year 2011 was RMB6.639 billion ($1.055 billion), an 88.3% increase from 2010. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS for fiscal year 2011 was RMB18.99($3.02); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses(non-GAAP) for fiscal year 2011 was RMB19.42 ($3.09).

Outlook for First Quarter 2012

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB4.195 billion ($666.5 million) to RMB4.330 billion ($688.0 million) for the first quarter of 2012, representing a 72.2% to 77.7% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Friday, October 28, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

Third Quarter 2011 Results

  • Total revenues in the third quarter of 2011 were RMB4.175 billion ($654.7 million), an 85.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.


 

  • Operating profit in the third quarter of 2011 was RMB2.226 billion ($349.1 million), an 88.5% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.


 

  • Net income attributable to Baidu in the third quarter of 2011 was RMB1.882 billion ($295.0 million), a 79.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2010. Diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS(2) (EPADS) for the third quarter of 2011 were RMB5.38 ($0.84); diluted earnings attributable to Baidu per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the third quarter of 2011 were RMB5.49 ($0.86).

Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu commented, "Baidu recorded stellar results in the third quarter driven by rapid growth in customer spending and user traffic. In particular, spending by large customers significantly outperformed our expectations as we continued to build strong relationships with high quality companies. China's search industry is still in its early stages, and as the clear industry leader we see enormous room for continuing growth as users and online marketing customers become increasingly sophisticated."

Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, commented, "We enjoyed another strong quarter of top and bottom line growth, while maintaining a robust level of investment in R&D, infrastructure development and new strategic opportunities to support our future growth.

"In this quarter, we completed the acquisition of Qunar, a leading travel search engine in China, and for the first time consolidated Qunar's financial results. In addition, to support the rapid growth of our online video service provider Qiyi, we made a $23 million cash contribution and incurred a charge based on equity method accounting. Our EPADS would have been $0.91 without this charge associated with Qiyi."

Outlook for Fourth Quarter 2011

Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB4.410 billion ($691.4 million) to RMB4.535 billion ($711.0 million) for the fourth quarter of 2011, representing a 79.9% to 85.0% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011(1).

Second Quarter 2011 Highlights

  • Total revenues in the second quarter of 2011 were RMB3.415 billion ($528.4 million), a 78.4% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.

  • Operating profit in the second quarter of 2011 was RMB1.858 billion ($287.5 million), a 91.2% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.

  • Net income in the second quarter of 2011 was RMB1.633 billion ($252.6 million), a 95.0% increase from the corresponding period in 2010. Diluted earnings per ADS(2) for the second quarter of 2011 were RMB4.67 ($0.72); diluted earnings per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the second quarter of 2011 were RMB4.77 ($0.74).

"Baidu had another excellent quarter, as we benefited from strong traffic growth and improved monetization," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "We were especially encouraged with the strong spending from large customers, highlighting the increased value they saw from their marketing spend on Baidu."

"We continued to see strong momentum and product integration from our Box Computing open data and application platforms during the quarter," Mr. Li continued. "Our position at the center of China's Internet ecosystem enables Baidu to benefit from key trends such as the growth of e-commerce. Looking ahead, I am confident that Baidu's emphasis on innovation and execution will help us continue to attract and retain users and customers."

Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer, commented, "Our top and bottom line results grew strongly again this quarter, with healthy increases in overall traffic and paid click growth. We will continue to accelerate our investments in strategic areas, R&D, network infrastructure and bringing new talents on board to drive long term growth."


Friday, June 24, 2011

Acquisition Activity

BEIJING, June 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qunar, the leading travel search engine in China, and Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, jointly announced today a definitive agreement under which Baidu has committed to make a US$306 million strategic investment in Qunar. The investment will make Baidu the majority shareholder of Qunar.

Founded in 2005, Qunar offers Chinese consumers real-time searches for air and rail tickets, hotels, and tour packages. Qunar also provides travel-related resources such as group-buying deals and user discussion forums. According to iResearch, a China-based independent research firm, Qunar ranked number one among travel websites in China as measured by daily unique visitors in March 2011. Qunar has the widest coverage of any travel search engine in China, with more than 11,000 air routes and 102,000 hotels worldwide.

The closing of the definitive agreement is subject to customary conditions. The parties currently expect that the transaction will close in the third quarter of 2011. After the investment, Qunar will continue to operate as an independent company, while both companies will cooperate in certain areas of online travel search. Baidu plans to finance the investment through obtaining a third-party loan facility.

"Travel has long been one of the top categories on Baidu, and the number of travelers in China has been growing very rapidly, so this is a market of obvious strategic importance to us," said Jennifer Li, Chief Financial Officer of Baidu. "Our investment in Qunar will create an even better search experience for users planning trips," she said.

"Qunar provides Chinese travelers with the most comprehensive and accurate travel information online," said Qunar's newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Chenchao Zhuang. Mr. Zhuang co-founded the company with Fritz Demopoulos, who will step down as Chief Executive Officer to pursue entrepreneurial business opportunities, while continuing to serve as strategy advisor to Qunar. "By working with Baidu, we can focus on enhancing our search technology and the quality of our products and services," said Mr. Zhuang. "Together, we can enhance the user experience of hundreds of millions of Chinese travelers, whether they're searching with their computers or their mobile devices. We believe that Baidu's strategic investment in us will allow both companies to better capture exciting growth opportunities in our industry."

According to CNNIC's 27th China Internet Report issued in January 2011, among China's 457 million Internet users, search ranked as the most popular application, used by 81.9% of Internet users in China. However, only 7.9% of Internet users in China reported having used online travel booking services. By contrast, in the United States, 66% of Internet users have booked travel services online. As a result, growth opportunities in China's online travel industry remain largely untapped.

"Qunar has developed top-notch travel search technology over the last five years and has built a leading brand name in the industry," said Baidu's Ms. Li. "Under Mr. Zhuang's leadership, I have full confidence that the highly talented and experienced Qunar team will bring the company to a new level of success in collaboration with Baidu."


Sunday, June 5, 2011

Liquidity Requirements
We believe that our current cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and anticipated cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs, including our cash needs for working capital and capital expenditures, for at least the next 12 months. We may, however, require additional cash due to changing business conditions or other future developments, including any investments or acquisitions we may decide to pursue.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

First Quarter Results:

  • Total revenues in the first quarter of 2011 were RMB2.436 billion ($372.0 million), an 88.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.
      
  • Operating profit in the first quarter of 2011 was RMB1.195 billion ($182.4 million), a 125.1% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.
       
  • Net income in the first quarter of 2011 was RMB1.071 billion ($163.5 million), a 122.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2010.
  • Diluted earnings per ADS(2) for the first quarter of 2011 were RMB3.06 ($0.47); diluted earnings per ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the first quarter of 2011 were RMB3.15 ($0.48).


"Monetization improvements combined with continuing solid traffic growth drove another great quarter for Baidu," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu. "We remain focused on enhancing our Phoenix Nest platform to improve return on investments for our existing customers and enhancing awareness of the benefits of search engine marketing among the tens of millions of SMEs and large companies in China who are not yet using our Phoenix Nest platform."

  • Baidu currently expects to generate total revenues in an amount ranging from RMB3.230 billion ($493.3 million) to RMB3.300 billion ($503.9 million) for the second quarter of 2011, representing a 68.7% to 72.4% year-over-year increase. This forecast reflects Baidu's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Comments & Business Outlook

BEIJING, Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Baidu, Inc. today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2010(1).

Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010 Highlights

     

  • Total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010 were RMB2.451 billion ($371.3 million), a 94.4% increase from the corresponding period in 2009.
  • Total revenues in fiscal year 2010 were RMB7.915 billion ($1.199 billion), a 78.0% increase from 2009.

    Operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2010 was RMB1.275 billion ($193.2million), a 175.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2009.

  • Operating profit in fiscal year 2010 was RMB3.959 billion ($599.8 million), a 146.7% increase from 2009.
  • Net income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was RMB1.161 billion ($175.9 million), a 171.3% increase from the corresponding period in 2009. Diluted earnings per ADS(2) for the fourth quarter of 2010 was RMB3.32 ($0.50); diluted ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for the fourth quarter of 2010 was RMB3.40 ($0.52).
  • Net income in fiscal year 2010 was RMB3.525 billion ($534.1 million), a 137.4% increase from 2009. Diluted earnings per ADS for fiscal year 2010 was RMB10.10 ($1.53); diluted ADS excluding share-based compensation expenses (non-GAAP) for fiscal year 2010 was RMB10.36 ($1.57). Costs and expenses related to Baidu's Japan operations for fiscal year 2010 were RMB182.4 million ($27.6 million), which reduced diluted earnings per ADS by RMB0.49 ($0.07).

"This has been another quarter of outstanding performance for Baidu, with market momentum and our continued improvement in monetization fuelling top line growth," said Robin Li, Baidu's chairman and chief executive officer.

"Baidu continues to build upon our clear leadership in China's search market," Mr. Li added. "Looking forward we will further integrate search with online activities such as e-commerce and social networking and I am confident that Baidu will remain at the center of China's Internet ecosystem."

"I am pleased to report another quarter of stellar top and bottom line growth," commented Jennifer Li, Baidu's chief financial officer. "I'm also excited to note that in 2010 we enjoyed accelerating top line growth and record profitability despite substantial investment. As we remain focused on developing the market and driving top-line growth, we will continue to aggressively invest in R&D, sales, marketing and network infrastructure."


Friday, July 24, 2009

Comments & Business Outlook
 3rd Quarter 2009 Guidance Ending September a

  3rd Quarter 2009 Guidance

3rd QUARTER 2008

Period Change
GAAP Revenue $184.0 to $189 million $135.4   million 35.9% to 39.6%

Source: See Release, July 23, 2009

a Company forecasts reflects the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Monday, June 22, 2009

Comments & Business Outlook

''Despite the typical seasonality associated with the Chinese New Year holiday and overall macro economic challenges, we were able to deliver strong results by focusing on executing initiatives that drove overall performance,' said Robin Li, Baidu's chairman and CEO. 'In this uncertain economic environment, we see tremendous opportunity to reinforce to our customers the inherent advantages of our pay-for-performance platform. We are confident in our ability to continue growing.''

 2nd Quarter 2009 Guidance Ending June a

  2nd Quarter 2009 Guidance

2nd QUARTER 2008

Period Change
GAAP Revenue $157 to $161 million $117.0 million 34.2% to 37.6%

Source: See Release

a Company forecasts reflects the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.


Monday, February 23, 2009

Comments & Business Outlook

Guidance Report:

First Quarter Fiscal 2009 Guidance Ending March

  2009 Guidance 2008 Reported Period Change
GAAP Revenue $114 to $117 million $83.82 million 36% to 39%

We expect moderate year-over-year growth for the first quarter of 2009 due to two factors. First, we anticipate a portion of our online marketing customers may scale back on marketing spending given the current market environment. Second, we expect that the removal of certain sponsored links during the fourth quarter of 2008 resulted in a net loss of around 5% of revenue, impacting the first quarter."

Source: PR Newswire (February 18, 2009)