Apple May Integrate Baidu Search in iOS: Should Google Be Afraid?

Apple's actions are day-by-day making it clear that the world's most valuable company is separating from Google. Earlier reports indicated that Apple was parting ways with Google Maps in iPhoto and now, according to the latest reports, Baidu is going to be the default search engine for iOS device in China.

In China, Google search market-share stands short against Baidu. Baidu is the leading search engine in the Asian country with around 80% market shares. So Google is nowhere near the mighty Baidu. So Apple had its own valid reasons to choose a more popular search engine over Google. Apple has already confirmed the inclusion of Baidu in Mac OS X. Now, rumors are high that Baidu is going to be the default search engine in the upcoming iOS devices in China.

It is not the first time, when Apple has expressed its intent to part ways with the Internet search giant. Apple is already on the move to abandon the search specialist from its services. For instance, Siri - the popular virtual assistant - uses Apple's own search engine to fetch results and not Google's. Also with the debut of third generation iPad, we observed that Apple is using some other mapping service in its iPhoto app than Google Maps. The tech giant is using Bing maps service and reportedly it will abandon Google Maps soon. Rumors are also high that Apple is building its own mapping platform.

Should Google be afraid of Baidu? Yes, the Chinese are crazy about Apple's gadgets. So, using Baidu in iOS devices can kill Google in China, home to the world's largest Internet users. If Apple replaces Google with Baidu in China, then we also might not neglect the rumors that the tech giant will completely abandon Google by using Bing search engine in its upcoming Mac and iOS devices in the rest of the world. Apple's upcoming iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5, can be the device which will confirm whether the rumors are true or not.

However, at the moment we cannot completely confirm that Baidu on iOS is a done deal. But if that happens, it can ring the death knell for Google in China.

(reported by Johnny Wills, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)