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Chinese internet giant Baidu Inc said on Thursday its second-quarter sales were flat as the country’s uncertain economic outlook weighed on household consumption.
Baidu, which runs China’s largest search engine, derives most of its revenue from advertising, a sector that is vulnerable to slowing spending by consumers and businesses.
The company’s second-quarter sales were 33.93 billion yuan ($4.67 billion), flat from the same period last year, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The latest figure compares with 34.06 billion yuan recorded in the same period in 2023.
The company said in a statement that second-quarter net profit was 5.5 billion yuan ($770 million), up 5 percent from the same period last year.
Beijing-based Baidu is China’s artificial intelligence leader, and its chatbot “Ernie” serves as a rival to ChatGPT, which is blocked in China.
The company also has a strong presence in the autonomous driving sector, operating fleets of driverless taxis in designated areas of several cities, including Beijing.
Baidu faces stiff competition from other Chinese internet giants such as Tencent, which runs “super app” WeChat, and ByteDance, the developer of TikTok and its local version Douyin.
To gain a strategic advantage and diversify revenue, Baidu has vowed to strengthen its position in the high-margin live-streaming segment.
However, in January, Baidu abandoned a proposed $3.6 billion acquisition of video platform YY Live, citing a lack of government approval.
© 2024 AFP
Citation: Chinese Internet Giant Baidu’s Sales Flattened Due to Slumping Consumption (August 22, 2024) Retrieved August 22, 2024, https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-chinese-internet-giant-baidu-flat.html
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