Friday, February 29, 2008

Baidu starts testing IM service - Baidu Hi

Baidu started internal tests on its first
instant message software Baidu Hi today,
Sina.com reported.

Employees have to submit applications
through internal networks to get
approval to download Baidu Hi, the
report said.

Baidu Hi, Baidu's "strategic" new product,
was wholly and independently developed by
the company in terms of product design,
research and test process, the report said.

Profit from the instant message market on
the Chinese mainland reached up to 4.75
billion yuan (US$668 million) last year
and the figure is expected to jump by at
least 30 percent annually to 8.76 billion
yuan in 2009, the report said.

Currently, the instant message market on
the mainland is dominated mostly by
Tencent's QQ with Microsoft's MSN a
distant second.

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