Baidu, Orange team up for African and Mideast markets

PanARMENIAN.Net - Not content to dominate internet search in China alone, Baidu and France Telecom's Orange are partnering to capitalize on African and Middle Eastern markets as well, Engadget reports.

Now they launched a co-branded version of Baidu's browser on France Telecom's Egyptian operator MobiNil - it's essentially the same as the one released last year for the Chinese market but in English / Arabic instead (a French version is also coming).

The browser is a pre-installed app on carrier-sold smartphones and features bookmarks for Orange and Baidu services. According to Orange, smartphone adoption in the region has become widespread due to the increased availability of 3G networks - demand apparently doubled in Egypt in the second half of 2012 alone.

With nearly 80 million potential customers at hand, Baidu could certainly give Google a run for its money yet again, Engadget says.