Googleが登場した時、何をいまさら・・・と思った人が多いだろう。 Baiduが良いかどうかこれからの話ですが、 サーチはネットビジネスの本丸というべき市場であり、新しいプレーヤーが挑戦する土壌と否定はしていけないと思う。 BaiduのRobinは馬鹿ではない。超優秀。 どのようなものが出るか?という点を分析するとか、予想するとかが、アナリストの仕事のように思う。
Baidu May Need More Than Language to Win Japan Market Share
By Pavel Alpeyev
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Baidu.com Inc., China's biggest
Internet search company, may need to add online shopping and
mobile phone Web searching to succeed in its plan to lure users
from Yahoo Japan Corp., the country's most-visited site.
Baidu yesterday said it will start operations in Japan next
year. The Beijing-based company, which makes money by selling
advertisements linked to its search results, said its experience
with non-English languages and similarities between Japanese and
Chinese will help lure users in Japan.
``It would be really difficult for a new entrant to win
significant market share,'' said Yutaka Murakami, an analyst at
Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``Japanese users prefer portal-
type, ready-made search engines like Yahoo.'' He called Yahoo's
position in Japan ``overwhelmingly strong'' and has a ``buy''
rating on the company's shares.
Baidu's plan to expand into Japan, the world's second-
biggest economy, comes as competition from Google Inc. and Yahoo
for online advertising spending in China, the second-largest
Internet market after the U.S., intensifies. Yahoo may pose even
more of a challenge for Baidu in Japan, Hiroshi Naya, a Tokyo-
based Ichiyoshi Research Institute manager, said today.
``Yahoo's dominance in the Web-based search engine market
will probably continue,'' Naya said. ``Newcomers in the market
may find opportunity in the growing mobile phone area.''
Yahoo Japan didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
Mobile Rivals
Yahoo's Japan unit is controlled by Softbank Corp., which
also operates the country's third-largest mobile phone carrier
and links the search engine portal directly to Softbank's
wireless service. KDDI Corp., the second-biggest mobile carrier,
on May 18 said it allied with Google Inc. to provide handset-
based search services. NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's biggest mobile
phone provider, has said it too plans to make Google available on
its phones.
Baidu may also have to broaden its service to include
auctions and other features, Murakami said.
``Yahoo's strength lies in the fact that it offers a
multitude of services beyond searching, such as auctions,''
Murakami said today. ``Advertising will continue to be an
important revenue source for search engines, e-commerce, such as
auctions and shopping, is emerging as an important driver for
sales growth.''
Baidu had 44 percent of the search market in the first
quarter in China, according to Beijing-based market researcher
Analysys International. Yahoo's share was 21 percent and Google
had 13 percent.