Baidu Tops China’s Smart Speaker Market and Enters Top 3 Globally in First Quarter

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) ranked No. 1 in China’s smart speaker market and became a top-three global player with Amazon and Google in the first quarter of 2019, according to research companies Canalys and Strategy Analytics, as Baidu’s conversational AI system DuerOS continues to gain momentum in device shipment and ecosystem development.

According to Canalys and Strategy Analytics, China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest smart speaker market after seeing about 500% growth year-on-year. For the first time, Baidu has topped the Chinese market ahead of Chinese peers Alibaba and Xiaomi. Based on Canalys Smart Speaker Analysis, Baidu recorded 3.3 millions of units shipped in Q1, taking up 16% of global share.

Kun Jing, Baidu Vice President and General Manager of the Smart Living Group, said: “We are thrilled with the progress we have made in the past year and to see our leading position recognized. Since 2018, we’ve been improving our systematic capability in AI hardware, brand building, marketing and sales channels, with the aim to bring the best products to users. Looking ahead, we will continue to build products that improve people’s daily lives and make the complicated world simpler through technology.”

DuerOS, which powers the smart speakers, has seen increasing popularity among users and partners, with a stellar first quarter seeing sales of the Xiaodu series smart devices surpassing the total for 2018. In March 2019, the DuerOS voice assistant installed base reached 275 million, up by 279% year-on-year, and monthly voice queries on DuerOS reached 2.37 billion, up by 817% year-on-year.

Through constant product innovation and user experience enhancement, the user stickiness of Xiaodu devices has consistently improved. The service offering in the DuerOS skills store has been expanded to over 1,100 skills across a wide range of areas, including long and short video, live video, gaming, online education and news. The average time users spend on Xiaodu smart devices, for both smart displays and speakers, is more than one hour a day.

About BaiduBaidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. Baidu aims to make the complicated world simpler for users and enterprises through technology. Baidu’s ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “BIDU.” Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.

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