Microsoft isn’t abandoning Bing in China in its support for Baidu.
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The seven deals with Chinese companies and government institutions will likely give Microsoft greater access to the country’s large market.
According to the Windows 10 blog, “We’re excited to be working with leading hardware and software companies in China to develop ground-breaking devices and consumer experiences for Windows 10”.
The deal is among a slew of partnerships with Chinese firms that Microsoft announced Wednesday as China’s President Xi Jinping met tech executives in Seattle on his first state visit to the U.S. Xi toured Microsoft’s headquarters with CEO Satya Nadella. Microsoft is now in to fix some of these problems and get major profits with its Windows 10 desktop OS.
As it stands, with the help of a few established partnerships such as Tencent, Qihoo 360, and Lenovo, Microsoft has seen Windows 10 installed on over 10 million devices in China.
According to The Verge, the company has hundreds of millions of users who still use older or pirated versions of the operating system.
In short, in spite of today’s agreement, it still will be Bing, not Baidu, that will power Windows 10 search and Cortana in China. Microsoft is dropping things like local browsing and search to attract Baidu’s user base.
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Baidu will in return be the default homepage and search option for the Edge browser in Windows 10. In addition, Baidu will also be the default home page and search engine for the new Microsoft Edge browser. Baidu webpage will also feature universal Windows applications for search, maps, and other cloud-based products.
