Baidu (BIDU) plans to enter the smartphone market with the launch of a new and cheap phone.

This will essentially be the first low cost smartphone that we have seen to date. The emergence of this phone could really shake up the Chinese mobile phone market. The phone will give its users access to a variety of Baidu applications as well as giving its users 100 GB free storage space on its Baidu Cloud system. Baidu is cooperating with Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. and China Unicom Ltd. in the creation of this phone, but the phone itself will be launched under a separate brand and will be priced under CNY 1,000 (about $160).

The phone is meant to be a rival to Android, at least in the Chinese market, and it would seem that at the price it will be sold at it may just succeed in overtaking the popular OS.

Although Baidu has over 78% of the online search engine traffic under its belt, only 35% of mobile users use Baidu for internet searches. The entry into the smart phone market could bring that second number up to near the first number, and make Baidu a leader across the board in internet searching. There are reports that the company is negotiating with a large number of brands to put out other handsets powered by Baidu Cloud, which will hopefully mean that it will be able to increase the amount of mobile traffic through its search engine.To continue reading, click here.

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