Baidu registers $3.69b revenue in Q2

Chinese internet search giant Baidu Inc reported on Friday its total revenues reached 26 billion yuan ($3.69 billion) in the second quarter of 2020, dropping 1 percent year-on-year, while its net profit hit 5.1 billion yuan, an increase of 40 percent on a yearly basis.

The daily active users of Baidu App reached 204 million in June 2020, a 16 million addition in the past 12 months. Baijiahao publisher accounts reached 3.4 million, up 52 percent year-on-year in June 2020.

"With the COVID-19 outbreak receding in China, Baidu's business is steadily rebounding. We are pleased that in-app revenue grew in the second quarter, despite a challenging macro environment, further validating our strategy to make Baidu App a super app through AI-powered building blocks and marketing cloud platform," Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, said.

Li added that the company's new AI businesses, including cloud, smart devices and smart transportation, saw double-digit growth in the second quarter and stand to become an important revenue driver in the years to come.

In addition to investing in new AI businesses, Baidu is also diversifying its revenue streams through membership, online games and others, Herman Yu, chief financial officer of Baidu, said, adding they plan to continue heavy investments in technology to maximize Baidu's future growth potential.

Baidu has attracted a large variety of knowledge and information-based videos to its platform, including live and short videos, and over 800 sessions of topical live streaming were broadcast in the second quarter.

Moreover, it has stepped up efforts to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving technologies. The Apollo robotaxi operations in Beijing, Changsha and Cangzhou have expanded into larger networks and more complex road conditions, such as downtown streets.

In May 2020, Baidu completed the 145,000 square foot Apollo Park in Beijing, an autonomous driving and V2X (vehicle-to-everything), testing facility that supports testing, operational command center, cloud control system, vehicle warehousing, maintenance and calibration.