Baidu Inc , China's largest search engine, is in talks with a Chinese manufacturer to help develop televisions connected to the Internet, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The company is discussing working with Huan Technology Limited to develop a set-top box or a chip for use in smart TVs, the people said, asking to not be identified because the discussions are private. Huan Technology is a joint venture between Sichuan Changhong Electric and TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings, the third-largest flat-panel TV maker in the world by revenue share, researcher Display Search said in June.
Baidu is expanding its online video business to boost its share of a market that consultant IResearch estimates might generate 16.2 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) in revenue next year. The US-listed company is competing for users with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's largest e-commerce company, which said in July it had designed a smart TV operating system and set-top box.
The company last week agreed to buy a 59 percent stake in e-commerce website operator Nuomi Holdings Inc for about $160 million.
Baidu also bought Internet video business PPStream Inc. in June for $370 million and has been combining it with IQiyi.com, which it acquired last year, to create China's largest online video platform.
The company is discussing working with Huan Technology Limited to develop a set-top box or a chip for use in smart TVs, the people said, asking to not be identified because the discussions are private. Huan Technology is a joint venture between Sichuan Changhong Electric and TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings, the third-largest flat-panel TV maker in the world by revenue share, researcher Display Search said in June.
Baidu is expanding its online video business to boost its share of a market that consultant IResearch estimates might generate 16.2 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) in revenue next year. The US-listed company is competing for users with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's largest e-commerce company, which said in July it had designed a smart TV operating system and set-top box.
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Baidu, based in Beijing, declined to comment in an e-mailed statement. He Dan, a spokeswoman for Guangzhou-based Huan Technology, declined to comment. Shares of Baidu are up 39 per cent this year in New York, compared with a 21 per cent increase in the Nasdaq Composite Index.
The company last week agreed to buy a 59 percent stake in e-commerce website operator Nuomi Holdings Inc for about $160 million.
Baidu also bought Internet video business PPStream Inc. in June for $370 million and has been combining it with IQiyi.com, which it acquired last year, to create China's largest online video platform.