Cheetah Mobile

Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Native name	猎豹移动公司
Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: CMCM
Industry	Mobile apps, Mobile gaming, Internet security
Founded	2009
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Key people	Sheng Fu (CEO)
Revenue	568.8 million (2015)[1]
Operating income	US$80.6 million (2015)
Net income	US$76.0 million (2015 )
Total assets	US$483.7 Million (2014)
Number of employees	1,178
Parent	Kingsoft
Website	www.cmcm.com

Cheetah Mobile Inc is a Chinese mobile Internet company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known as the developer of the Battery Doctor, Clean Master, Duba Anti-virus, and for purchasing QuickPic Gallery from the original developer. It has more than 568 million monthly active users as of November 2015.^[2]

History

Formation

The company was established in 2010 as a merger of Kingsoft Security and Conew Image,^[3] and grew to be the second largest internet security software provider in China, according to iResearch.^[4] The company is located at 1st Yaojiayuan South Rd, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China.

Initial public offering

In 2014, Cheetah Mobile launched an IPO selling 12 million American Depositary Shares at US$14 per share, and thereby raised US$168 million.^[5] The IPO was managed by Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase & Co., and Credit Suisse Group.^[6] Kingsoft and Tencent are major investors in Cheetah Mobile holding 54% and 18% respectively.^[7]

Post IPO

In the late 2015, Cheetah Mobile announced that it had entered into a global strategic partnership with Yahoo. The company incorporated Yahoo’s search and native advertising platforms within its own apps. As a result of this, Cheetah Mobile stated that its revenue generated from Yahoo increased by 30 percent daily within the first two weeks.^[8]

In February 2016, Cheetah Mobile and Cubot launched the CheetahPhone,^[9] an Android 6.0 Marshmallow based smartphone, at MWC in Barcelona, Spain.^[10]

Products

Cheetah Mobile's products include:

Computer applications

• Clean Master (PC) – For personal computers, improves performance by erasing junk files and optimizing device memory. The app is available for PC and other smartphone platforms without any cost.

Games

• Big Bang 2048 – Similar to 2048, but with numbers replaced by animals.^[11]
• Just Get 10 – A puzzle where players tap adjacent tiles with the same number, which will then pop up. Tapping again merges the position to where it was tapped.^[12]
• Don't Tap The White Tile – Players must avoid white tiles.^[13]
• Piano Tiles 2: Halloween/Ghost Tiles – Halloween version of Don't Tap The White Tile.^[14]

Mobile applications

• Battery Doctor – Extends smartphone battery standby time.^[15]
• Clean Master – Improves smartphone performance by erasing junk files, optimizing memory, and providing full protection from viruses, trojans, and other malware.^[16]
• CM Backup – A cloud backup service.^[17]
• CM Browser – A smartphone Web browser with added security.^[18]
• CM Flashlight – A flashlight with built-in compass.^[19]
• CM Launcher – An Android launcher only compatible with phones.^[20]
• CM Locker- An android phone locking software with added security
• CM Security – Antivirus software for both computers and mobile smartphones.^[21]
• File Manager – Popular for Android, bought in early 2014 from Rhythm Software, which is based in Haidian, Beijing, PRC.^[22]
• Photo Grid – For photo-editing, built to foster creativity. Users can create unique effects with any combination of photographs.^[23]
• QuickPic Gallery – A photo gallery application.^[24]

Controversies

Despite the popularity of its Clean Master Android App, it was reported in 2014 that ads promoting Clean Master manipulate Android users with deceptive tactics when browsing websites within the app's advertising framework. In April 2014, Ferenc László Nagy from Sophos Labs captured some pop-up ads that led to Clean Master, warning the device had been infected with a virus.^[25]

In July 2014, CM encouraged users to uninstall Google Chrome and replace it with Cheetah Mobile's own browser during Clean Master's "clean-up" and "optimization" process. This rogue practice allowed Cheetah Mobile to gain unfair position in the marketplace and led to a Google crackdown.^[26]

External links

• Official website

References

1. "Cheetah Mobile Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2015 Unaudited Financial Results". Cheetah Mobile. 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
2. "Company Profile: Cheetah Mobile". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
3. "Company Information". CMCM. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
4. "Cheetah Mobile - About us". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
5. "Company IPO Overview - Cheetah Mobile Inc. (CMCM) IPO". NASDAQ. NASDAQ OMX Group. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
6. Picker, Leslie (May 9, 2014). "Cheetah Mobile Gains in Trading Debut After $168 Million IPO". Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
7. "IPO Preview: Cheetah Mobile". Seeking Alpha. May 7, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
8. Yeung, Ken (2015-11-17). "Cheetah Mobile says its Yahoo search and advertising partnership shows early promise". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
9. "Phone - Hands On" (Video). 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
10. "Cubot and Cheetah Mobile unveil the CheetahPhone, headed to Europe for €199". GSM Arena. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
11. "Big Bang 2048".
12. "Just Get 10".
13. "Don't Tap The White Tile".
14. "Piano Tiles: Halloween".
15. "Battery Doctor". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
16. "Clean Master". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
17. "CM Backup". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
18. "CM Browser". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
19. "CM Flashlight" in Google Play Store. Retrieved May 28, 2015
20. "CM Launcher" in Google Play Store, with ksmobile package name, retrieved May 28, 2015.
21. "CM Security". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
22. "File Manager" in Google Play Store, with rhmsoft package name, retrieved in March 2015.
23. "Photo Grid". Cheetah Mobile. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
24. "QuickPic Gallery"
25. "Google takes aim at deceptive advertising of Play Store apps". Sophos. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
26. "A Potential Impaling Blow To Cheetah Mobile As Flagship Product Removed From Google's App Store Rankings". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 2015-04-30.