百度将与法国电信合作为非洲手机用户预装浏览器

百度将与法国电信合作为非洲手机用户预装浏览器

Baidu Partners with France Telecom to Bring Mobile Browser to Africa

　　Baidu, the Chinese search giant, has signed an exclusive dealwith France Telecom and its subsidiary Orange to co-brand and pre-load its Baidu mobile browser on Android smartphones in Africa and the Middle East. It is the first time Baidu has signed such an agreement with a global provider and extends the company to 19 countries in a move that stretches its boundaries beyond Asia and into Africa and the Middle East.

　　The partnership strives to drive web adoption in developing, emerging markets with a browser designed for the lower grade networks of the region. The browser offers a customizable but simple interface and uses data compression to gain better leverage of the more limited 3G networks of the region. The phones sold by France Telecom and Orange would include simple, dedicated icons for easier connection to popular Internet sites like Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter.

　　“Baidu’s success has been built on developing technologies, products and services appropriate for China, the world’s largest emerging market,” said Hu Yong, general manager of Baidu’s International Business Unit. “We’re now bringing that experience to bear in other markets now enjoying rapid growth. Working with Orange in the Middle East and Africa, Baidu hopes to contribute meaningfully to the region’s growth by making the mobile internet easier than ever to use.”

　　While most people in Africa use low grade, feature phones, there has been a shift towards low-end smartphones that provide web access but not the full range of features of more expensive smartphones popular in Europe and the US.

　　“The appetite for mobile internet services is very strong in Africa, for example demand for Android devices in Egypt has doubled in the second half of this year,” said Marc Rennard, senior executive vice president for Orange activities across Africa and the Middle East. “Price and access have been a barrier to entry, but partnering with innovative companies like Baidu provide unique solutions that give our customers affordable access to all the services they desire without compromising on features or ease-of-use.”

　　The deal connects Baidu with France-Telecom’s existing 75 million customers in Africa and the Middle East. Both companies aspire to grow that number to 300 million with sales of US$9.4 billion by 2015. Orange is the number three carrier in the region, topped by MTN and Vodafone.

　　The browser will be available in Arabic and English, with a French version currently under development. The browser will be localized for each market. The deal is stipulated for one year. France Telecom will begin shipping phones pre-loaded with the app later this year. Existing Android users can get a download of the app that works on all versions of Android 2.0.

　　Baidu first launched its mobile browser last September that sold the app through its Mobinill network.

全球最大的中文搜索引擎百度公司，与法国电信运营商及其子公司Orange签订了一份独家合作协议，即将在非洲和中东地区的智能手机上预装百度浏览器。这是百度首次与全球性的供应商合作，已然走出亚洲，深入到非洲和中东地区，把业务范围拓宽到了19个国家。

他们针对当地的低端网络专门设计了一款浏览器，以此来促进网络应用在新兴市场的不断发展。这款浏览器提供了特制的简单界面，并使用数据压缩以便更充分地利用当地受限较大的3G网络。由法国电信和其子公司出售的手机将会带有一些简单专用的图标，有助于更方便地连接到类似于维基百科、脸谱网以及推特这样的流行网站。

百度公司国际业务部的总经理胡勇表示：“百度的成功是由于我们的技术、产品和服务都适应了中国这个全球最大的新兴市场。现在我们要把这个经验运用到其他快速崛起的市场。百度希望通过与橙色公司在中东和非洲地区的合作，使当地的手机网络更加便捷，有效促进当地发展。”

虽然现在大多数非洲人还在用低端非智能机，但是低端智能机已经逐渐开始普及了。它可以连接网络，尽管不像欧洲和美国的高价智能机那样功能俱全。

橙色公司在非洲和中东地区的副总经理马克·雷纳德表示：“移动互联网服务业在非洲的发展势头非常强劲。例如，今年下半年埃及对安卓设备的需求量已经翻了一番。”他还说：“价格和使用权限会阻碍移动互联网的发展，但是与百度这样的创新性公司合作可以解决这个问题，这使消费者可以花同样的钱买到他们心仪的产品，还不影响功能和便捷性。”

这项协议将百度同法国电信在非洲和中东地区的7500万用户紧密联系起来。合作双方希望到2015年，用户能够达到3亿，销售额可以达到94亿美元。橙色公司已成为当地仅次于MTN和沃达丰的第三大运营商。

这款浏览器将使用阿拉伯语和英语，同时法语版本正在研发中。它将会进入当地各个市场出售。这项协议会持续一年。法国电信公司将会在今年开始生产预装有这项应用的手机。现有的安卓用户也可以下载这项应用,它适用于所有版本的安卓2.0设备。

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