Apple loves to make deals that make them money. It’s a business, what can you expect? Later this year when Apple adds Baidu (the popular Chinese search engine) to iOS in the official iOS 6 release, they will be doing just that. VP of the company, Wang Jing, said that the deal is similar to that of other revenue agreements with smartphone makers providing built-in Baidu search in their devices. Around 80% of Android devices in China already have native Baidu search capabilities, and they have been pushing their mobile presence through advertising and hardware partners. This past week Apple announced that both iOS 6 and Mountain Lion will support Baidu natively for Chinese users. This is the only way Apple is focusing on China though, also adding support for micro-blogging via Sina Weibo and video sharing for Youku and Tudou.

Baidu integration will not stop though at just adding search support via services such as Safari and Spotlight, it will also be natively integrated into Siri. Siri will support Mandarin and Cantonese this fall when iOS 6 ships so that users will be able to take advantage of the new feature.

What do you think? Any Chinese speaking readers? Do you think Apple shouldn’t get revenue from Baidu? Let us know in the comments.

Via: Bloomberg
Image: AppleInsider