By adding Chinese search engine Baidu to iOS later this year, Apple will get a cut of advertising revenue from the popular website.
Terms of the deal are similar to revenue sharing agreements with other smartphone makers who provide built-in Baidu search, Wang Jing, vice president of the Beijing-based company, said in an interview with Bloomberg. Baidu accounts for about 80 percent of Web searches in China.
Baidu is already integrated in about 80 percent of the Android smartphones in China. The search engine has helped increase its presence on mobile devices by sharing advertising revenues with hardware makers.
Apple announced earlier this week that both iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion will have Baidu available as a built-in search option for Chines users. Apple will also include support for micro-blogging via Sina Weibo and video sharing sites Youku and Tudou.
Baidu integration will include Siri, the personal assistant on the iPhone. With the launch of iOS 6 in the fall, Siri will “speak” Mandarin, tuned for both mainland China and Taiwan, and Cantonese for Hong Kong and the mainland.
Apple’s revenue in China tripled last quarter, and the country became its largest market, outside of the United States. China has become a major focus of Apple under CEO Tim Cook.