Yandex to become default search engine for Windows Phone smartphones in Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Yandex, the Russian online search and advertising giant, has teamed up with Microsoft, Nokia, HTC and Samsung to become the default search engine on the latest – and upcoming – Windows Phone smartphones in Russia, TechCrunch reports.

Yandex’s search engine is currently installed on Samsung’s Оmnia W, which is already on sale in Russia, as well as on Nokia’s Windows Phone-powered Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 smartphones, which will hit stores in December.

Following the launch of Windows Phone-based Titan, Mozart and Radar smartphones last autumn, HTC is also planning an update release with Yandex as the default search engine on its handsets.

The news comes on the heels of the announcement last month that Yandex became the main search provider on bada-powered smartphones available in Russia and the CIS.

Yandex points out it has already developed some apps for Windows Phone, including mapping service Yandex.Maps and online marketplace Yandex.Market, and that it will build more applications for the platform and other mobile operating systems in the future.

According to LiveInternet data, Yandex’s share of the Russian search market averaged 62.7 percent in Q3 2011, trumping Google by a margin. The company, which raised over $1.4 billion in a NASDAQ IPO earlier this year, recently reported revenues of RUR 5.2 billion ($161.9 million) for the third quarter of this year, up 65 percent compared with Q3 2010.

Aside from Russia, Yandex also operates in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Turkey.