For many, the mention of Cheetah Mobile may never ring a bell. But the mention of CleanMaster is enough for the person to understand the importance of Cheetah Mobile, the company behind it.
Apart from CleanMaster, Cheetah also has apps like Piano Tiles, CM Locker, Photo Grid and Battery Doctor that are hugely popular.
Cheetah Mobile is also one of the top three mobile game developers in the world, with its mobile game Piano Tiles 2 having reached the No. 1 ranking in more than 150 countries globally on both iOS and Android.
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So, it is naturally difficult to believe that the imposing building in Beijing is the houses the office of company that makes just apps. This also brings up another question: Can Cheetah afford to continue to bank just on apps?
It could be that Cheetah Mobile CEO Sheng Fu had similar concerns. In June 2015, Cheetah Mobile introduced the Cheetah Ad Platform to the global market. And at the Cheetah Connect Summit recently held in Beijing, Mr. Sheng announced plans that had nothing to do with apps. He said Cheetah was expanding to a social video service and also robotics.
“Our 2016 strategy is very clear,” said Mr. Sheng. “We’ll use our utility products as the entry point for mobile users, then add content products to build a platform, increasing the engagement of our users. At the same time, we’ll use Cheetah Mobile’s big data analytics to create a strategic high-ground advantage to better serve both our users and advertisers.”
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The social video service is called Toupai that will help “fans find their top idols”, and also enable “online celebrities find their #1 fans.” Toupai will focus first on the Chinese market with an official launch event on May 20. Toupai is backed by PurpleCow Startup Fund.
The second foray is into the field of robotics. Cheetah Robotics will invest $50 million into deep learning and artificial intelligence R&D. Sheng, who is personally investing in the venture, views the field of robotics as the ultimate evolution of the mobile tools category that Cheetah Mobile leads.
( The writer was recently in Beijing at the invitation of Cheetah Mobile )