China Mobile plans to make a strategic investment in local voice recognition technology firm Anhui USTC iFlytek, as part of the operator’s strategy to increase its influence in the mobile internet market.
The mobile giant said it has entered into preliminary discussions with iFlytek for potential subscription of new shares in the Shenzhen-listed company on a non-public offering basis.
“We believe there is a great potential in voice applications in mobile internet. The reason we chose iFlytek because it is a leading provider of Chinese-language intelligent speech technology. With iFlytek’s technology and our scale, we can achieve more collaborative effects in the mobile internet market,” China Mobile CEO Li Yue said at the company’s earnings briefing.
Li said the proposed transaction does not involve acquisition of a control stake in iFlytek and the company would announce more details about the partnership once it’s finalized.
iFlytek was found in 1999 with share holders including Shanghai Guangxin Industrial Company and Legend Capital. Its speech-to-text technology and software applications have been applied in various sectors including telecoms, finance, business, government organizations and consumer users. The company has 5,000 partners in China and a 70% share of the Chinese-language voice recognition market, according to the company's website.
Earlier this month China Mobile - together with 18 other companies including iFlytek, China Unicom, China Telecom, Huawei and Lenovo - formed industry group the Speech Industry Alliance of China (SIAC), to focus on Chinese-language voice technology.
The creation of the group is seen as an attempt by Chinese companies to provide home-grown alternatives to Siri.