According to an internal letter, the new smartphone company co-founded by internet security company Qihoo 360 and Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad aims to list in China within three years, NetEase Tech reported on Monday.
“Qihoo 360 joined the smartphone market because of our internet of things (IoT) strategy,” Zhou Hongyi, the co-founder, CEO and chairman of Qihoo 360 wrote in an internal letter.
“Our smartphone 360 F4 has been well received, and we hope to list in China within three years.”
According to Zhou, the era of the internet of things will arrive soon. And smartphones are only part of Qihoo 360’s IoT strategy in the next ten years.
Qihoo 360 and Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad co-founded the company in January 2015. It was called “Qiku” at first, and was then changed to “360 Qiku” in January 2016. Finally, two weeks ago, the combined company announced that “360” will be its official brand name and launched the F4 smartphone for USD 93.
Zhou referred to the F4 in his letter as “Anzhuo Xiaopingguo”, which means a smaller, Android version of Apple’s iPhone. He said 360 has managed to grab a share in a market dominated by leading smartphone makers including Huawei and Xiaomi with the 360 F4.
Before it started to make smartphones, 360 was known for its smartphone operating system, 360 OS. The company also makes other products including children’s watches, dash cams, and routers. They will launch a new smartphone, the N4 in May, according to one of their posts on Sina Weibo last Friday.
(Top photo is screenshot from 360shouji.com)
