Telco eyes iFlytek to fend off Apple
By Zhu Shenshen |
August 17, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA Mobile, the world's biggest telco by user number, yesterday said it plans to acquire or invest in iFlytek, a voice assistant tool often regarded as China's version of Apple's Siri.
The telco also said its profit in the second quarter grew by the slowest in the past 13 years on the high cost in gaining new smartphone users.
China Mobile's latest move is viewed as a response to the coming new iPhone and iOS system, which will enable a Chinese-language Siri in the future, industry insiders said.
Anhui USTC iFLytek Co, which halted trading yesterday for a "coming strategic investment announcement", declined to comment yesterday.
The iFlytek products are widely used in Android devices, which help users to search and react on mobile phones through voice requests.
Apple said in June it would launch a new iOS which features a Chinese-language Siri, which will debut in the summer.
Meanwhile, the telco's net profit in the second quarter was flat at 34.4 billion yuan (US$5.4 billion) from a year earlier, lower than analysts' estimates of 35.6 billion yuan.
Revenue rose 5.4 percent to 139.1 billion yuan in the quarter, it said.
By the end of June, it had 683.1 million subscribers.
The telco also said its profit in the second quarter grew by the slowest in the past 13 years on the high cost in gaining new smartphone users.
China Mobile's latest move is viewed as a response to the coming new iPhone and iOS system, which will enable a Chinese-language Siri in the future, industry insiders said.
Anhui USTC iFLytek Co, which halted trading yesterday for a "coming strategic investment announcement", declined to comment yesterday.
The iFlytek products are widely used in Android devices, which help users to search and react on mobile phones through voice requests.
Apple said in June it would launch a new iOS which features a Chinese-language Siri, which will debut in the summer.
Meanwhile, the telco's net profit in the second quarter was flat at 34.4 billion yuan (US$5.4 billion) from a year earlier, lower than analysts' estimates of 35.6 billion yuan.
Revenue rose 5.4 percent to 139.1 billion yuan in the quarter, it said.
By the end of June, it had 683.1 million subscribers.
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