Deep-pocketed Chinese rivals and tough regulators stand in the way of U.S. car-hailing service Uber's plans to conquer one of the world's biggest transportation markets, even after it signed a tieup with domestic internet giant Baidu Inc.The terms of a deal that sees Baidu purchase a stake in the fast-growing taxi app operator were not disclosed.Uber, though, is a comparative latecomer in China, where taxi app users are set to triple to 45 million by 2015 compared with 2013, according to Chinese research firm iResearch. Domestic firm Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache, backed by tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd respectively, have 90 percent of the market sewn up."China is the Holy Grail because it is both elusive and attractive at the same time," said Kumar Saha, an automotive and transport analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
Baidu, Inc. (Baidu) is a Chinese-language Internet search provider. Shares of BIDU fell by 2.59% or $-5.85/share to $219.96. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $140.66 and as high as $251.99. On average, 3667670 shares of BIDU exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3996120.
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