Baidu abandoning health care business

Baidu is abandoning the mobile health care business after a two-year struggle to create a profitable model for helping online users access offline medical services. The closure will mainly affect a team running the mobile application Baidu Doctor, which allows users to schedule doctor appointments and seek medical advice, sources at Baidu told Caixin. According to a source, the mobile health care team will be broken up and a formal announcement could be made later this week. Affected employees will be offered options that include other positions and severance packages. In 2015, Baidu launched its doctor-appointment app, Baidu Doctor, in an attempt to build a business chain linking online and offline medical resources. But the unit was never able to sufficiently build up its market influence and medical resources despite the company’s heavy investment in technology.