Baidu’s Q3 Financial Report: Total Revenues Reach $4.95 Billion, Non-GAAP Net Income Reaches $790 Million
Baidu, a leading AI company with strong Internet foundations, announced on Wednesday its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of this year. The company’s total revenues were 31.9 billion yuan ($4.95 billion), increasing 13% year over year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to the company was 5.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27%.
Baidu has been showing an upward trend in its development as it continues to research and develop its core technologies. The company spent 6.2 billion yuan on R&D in the third quarter, up 35% from a year earlier. Baidu is also able to help enterprises, public sectors and other partners realize their commercial and social value by using its products and services.
Baidu donated 90 million yuan to help Henan province cope with its recent natural disaster. Xiaodu launched its “visual assistance” to enable visually impaired voice controls and on-demand screen-text reading for users who need assistance in using their devices. And in October, Baidu established a Data Management Committee in an effort to consolidate its existing committees on data management, data privacy & protection and data security. The move is meant to further improve its policies and oversight concerning data management.
AI Cloud
“Baidu Core delivered another solid quarter, powered by our AI cloud revenue growing 73% year over year,” said Rong Luo, CFO of Baidu. “With a diversified AI portfolio, including cloud services, smart transportation, smart devices, self-driving vehicles, smart EVs and robotaxis, we are well positioned for long-term growth.”
Baidu also released its end-to-end AI cloud solution, powered by the Kunlun AI chip and PaddlePaddle deep learning framework. The cloud service is aimed at financial services firms looking to digitize and automate their operational processes. To date, customers have included the likes of China Life and Bank of Jiangsu. Further, the city of Tongxiang in Zhejiang Province signed an agreemen with Baidu to enable its manufacturing-based enterprises with Baidu‘s AI solutions, allowing Baidu to further penetrate into the industrial Internet.
Lijiang, a UNESCO Heritage Site with 800-year old bridges and waterways, is using Baidu‘s smart-city cloud to keep the city safe and clean for visitors. Leveraging the digitalization of tourist areas, Baidu‘s AI solution helps local authorities detect and address infractions, such as illegal parking and littering, right away.
Intelligent Driving
In the field of intelligent driving, Baidu Apollo continues to take the lead in technology. The company’s financial report shows that the Apollo L4 has accumulated over 10 million test miles, up 189% year over year, and has received 411 autonomous driving permits, reflecting Apollo’s broad geographic coverage and wide-ranging test scenarios.
In August, Baidu launched an upgraded autonomous driving service platform, Apollo Go. Rides provided by Apollo Go have doubled since their inception but are only available in select cities, namely Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Changsha and Cangzhou.
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In addition, Xiaodu continues to lead the market for smart home devices. According to Strategy Analytics, IDC and Canalys, Xiaodu ranked No.1 in smart display shipments globally and smart speaker shipments in China for Q2 2021. In August 2021, Xiaodu completed a Series B financing at a valuation of $5.1 billion with Baidu retaining majority shareholding.
