Chinese internet giant Baidu posts flat revenue as consumption slumps

Chinese internet giant Baidu posted flat second-quarter revenue on Thursday, as an uncertain economic outlook in the country weighs on household consumption.

Baidu, which operates China’s top search engine, derives a large part of its sales from advertising — a sector vulnerable to slumps in personal and business spending.

Its second-quarter revenue was 33.93 billion yuan ($4.67 billion), remaining level year-on-year, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The latest figure compares to the 34.06 billion yuan posted in the same period of 2023.

Net profit during the second quarter stood at 5.5 billion yuan ($770 million), the statement added, up five percent year-on-year.

Beijing-based Baidu is a leading player in China’s artificial intelligence sector, with its chatbot Ernie serving as the local rival to ChatGPT, which is blocked in the country.

The firm also has a strong presence in the field of autonomous driving, operating fleets of driverless taxis in designated zones of several cities, including Beijing.

Baidu faces stiff competition from fellow Chinese internet giants, such as Tencent, operator of “super-app” WeChat, and ByteDance, creator of TikTok and its local version Douyin.

Attempting to gain a strategic edge and diversify its revenue, Baidu has floated bolstering its position in the highly lucrative livestreaming sector.

But in January, Baidu abandoned a colossal proposed investment of $3.6 billion that would have seen it acquire video platform YY Live, partly blaming the U-turn on its inability to obtain government approval.

© 2024 AFP