Baidu reports lackluster third quarter results

The Chinese internet giant Baidu reported lackluster profit and revenue results, well below what analysts had forecast.

The company, which operates China’s leading search engine, reported net income of 3.88bn yuan and revenue of 13.5bn yuan, an increase of 27% and 52% respectively.

However, despite the increase in income and revenue, many analysts had predicted the “Chinese Google” to perform much better.

Baidu has a significant market share in China, accounting for 70% of search engine queiries in the country. However, rivals such as Sogou and Qihoo 360 are proving to be fast growing competition.

As a result the company has been focusing on marketing and content on mobile devices.

Baidu issued a statement, in which said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer, said:

“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.

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,”

“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.”

Jennifer Li, Baidu’s chief financial officer, commented:

“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, 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.”