12 June 2008

Chinese Opera singing Baidu's song

Web browser and internet suite Opera - perhaps best known for its use on mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs - recently made a huge step to increase its use on personal computers by partnering with Baidu, China's most prolific search engine.

Internet users in China that use the Chinese Language Opera web browser will now have Baidu as the default search engine direct from the start page. The freshly released Opera 9.5 is available to download free from their website just the same as other popular internet browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Accessing Baidu from the start page of Opera is bound not only to bring more users to the popular Chinese search engine but may even draw more people to use the Opera browser. China is one of the few places in the world where another search engine out performs worldwide leader Google.

Like Baidu, Opera is only popular in a few countries around the globe including Russia where it boasts 14%-17% of the share of internet browser usage followed by Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and the Czech Republic according to the usage share of web browsers.

Opera is clearly attempting to break into China's online market by teaming up with already popular Baidu. And with a current population of over a billion people, if Opera takes off, the Norwegian software company could strike gold.

Although internet users in China represent only a fraction of the total population at the moment, Opera has clearly seen this as the time to capture the interests and usage of the over 100 million people that utilise search engines at least once a week.

This is not the first instance where that Opera has broken the set by other web browsers. They continue to be the only browser that is supported by the Nintendo DS and the hugely popular Wii - widely regarded as a revolutionary gaming system. Opera's use in the living room takes it one step closer to the 21st century ideal of having and all-in-one entertainment, personal computer and communications system.

With its new partnership with Baidu, we may soon see the long shot in fourth place behind Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari closing the gap - at least in the Far East.