Chinese search engine firm Baidu.com has announced the full launch of a Japanese version of its service.The new search site is located at Baidu.jp and is being managed by subsidiary Baidu Inc, the company revealed today. It first unveiled its intention to break into the Japanese market in December 2006.
Baidu.com launched the site following a ten-month beta test that received a "positive reception", according to Baidu Inc vice president Masuda Jun, who added: "We expect to see even greater user reception to the four different Japanese language services we will offer, including web search, image search, video search and blog search services."
According to the company, Baidu Inc will now concentrate on the development of other search products tailored to the Japanese market.
"Given the success we have already encountered after nearly one year of testing our beta site, we are confident that we can provide a high quality Japanese language search engine," commented Baidu.com chairman and chief executive Robin Li.
According to the Financial Times, Baidu.jp will come up against the likes of Yahoo! and Google in the Japanese search market.
Yahoo! Japan holds about 60 per cent of the market, while Google Japan has 40 per cent, the newspaper says.
Credit Suisse analyst Takashi Murakami said that Baidu.com may have to enter into a partnership with a Japanese mobile carrier in order to gain success in the market.
