Google Inc said it has sold its stake in Chinese rival Baidu.com (
Google registered to sell all of the 749,625 shares of Beijing-based Baidu.com Inc it owns, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filer of such a document is granted permission to sell the shares within 90 days after the registration.
Google snapped up about 2.6 percent of Baidu.com's outstanding Class A ordinary shares for approximately US$5 million prior to the Chinese search engine's initial public offering last year.
US$60 million
The shares are valued at more than US$60 million, based on Baidu.com's current stock price.
Baidu.com, often called the ``Chinese Google,'' went public last August. Its US depositary shares hit a high of US$151.31 on their first day of trading, up from the IPO price of US$27 each. The shares fell to a low of US$44.44 each on Feb. 6.
In related news, Google started offering commercial videos online for free to attract more users and advertisers seeking to reach them.
The videos, including episodes of The Charlie Rose Show and films such as Billy the Kid, are available for free and are sponsored by advertisers, Google said today on its Web site.
online shows
Google started selling television shows online in January, charging users a fee for each episode. The free videos usually sell from US$0.30 to US$14.99, Google said.
The free videos are displayed alongside a small text ad and the logo of the sponsor. Initial sponsors include computer-maker Hewlett-Packard Co, online video rental site Netflix Inc and Burger King Holdings Inc, the second-biggest US hamburger chain.
Users can also click to see video advertisements from the sponsors. Google is only making a selection of its videos available for free. Shows such as CBS Corp's Survivor still cost US$1.99 an episode.
competition
Making shows available for free may spark new competition for Apple Computer Inc's iTunes Music Store, which began selling videos online in October.
Apple charges US$1.99 per episode for shows such as Desperate Housewives, made by Walt Disney Co's ABC.
Google's move, reported yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, highlights how media companies are searching for workable business models to sell video content online.
Disney, the second-biggest US media company, in April announced a test for making primetime ABC shows available online for free.
The shows are funded by advertising that users aren't able to skip.
WHEELING AND DEALING? Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je, Eric Chu and Ma Ying-jeou are under investigation for allegedly offering bribes for the other side to drop out of the race Taipei prosecutors have started an investigation into allegations that four top politicians involved in attempts to form a “blue-white” presidential ticket have contravened election regulations. Listed as defendants are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The case stemmed from judicial complaints filed last month with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office alleging that the KMT (blue) and the TPP (white) had engaged in bribery by offering money or other enticements
ELIGIBLE FOR JANUARY: All presidential candidates and their running mates meet the requirements to run for office, and none hold dual citizenship, the CEC said Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election. Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign. She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of
GOOD NEWS: Although open civic spaces are shrinking in Asia-Pacific countries and territories, Taiwan’s openness is a positive sign, an expert said Taiwan remains the only country in Asia with an “open” civic space for the fifth consecutive year, the Civicus Monitor said in a report released yesterday. The People Power Under Attack 2023 report named Taiwan as one of only 37 open countries or territories out of 198 globally, and the only one in Asia. Compiled by Civicus — a global alliance of civil society organizations dedicated to bolstering civil action — the ranking compiled annually since 2017 measures the state of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression around the world. Researchers assign each country or territory one of five rankings describing the
NOT JUST CHIPS: Although semiconductor processes are on the list, it also includes military technology and post-quantum cryptography to combat emerging cyberthreats The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) yesterday released a list of 22 technologies it considers crucial to the nation’s security and competitiveness, including the 14-nanometer semiconductor process and advanced chip packaging. For the first time, the council made a list of core technologies with an aim of preventing secret information about those technologies being leaked to foreign countries, which could put the nation’s security and the competitiveness of local industries at risk. For years, local semiconductor companies have faced challenges from talent poaching and theft of corporate secrets by Chinese competitors, who are seeking to rapidly advance their technology capabilities through
RSS