Samsung showcased its next-generation flagship smartphones Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge at MWC recently. The Korean phone manufacturer has preinstalled Clean Master, a mobile utility app developed by Chinese company Cheetah Mobile, on the two products globally. At the event, TechNode got a chance to chat with Fu Sheng, Cheetah Mobile’s CEO, on their cooperation with Samsung.
It was the first time Cheetah Mobile had set up an independent booth at MWC, although they had previously demoed their products at the tech gathering with other companies from Beijing’s Zhongguancun tech hub. “More than ten Cheetah Mobile staff from our Beijing and Taipei offices went to MWC Barcelona this year”, Fu said.
It was at MWC 2014 when Samsung and Cheetah Mobile first began their cooperation. Cheetah has since then amassed a sizable user base and gone public on the U.S. Stock Exchange. “Samsung was also in talks with several other companies, but they finally chose us,” said Fu.
Fu revealed that the two companies have discussed their cooperation for nearly a year, during which time they have gone over on every feature and security details of the product. Samsung’s management had heated debates on whether they should pre-load a third-party app or use a similar homegrown app. But after testing the two products, they found Clean Master was the better option.
“We know that Samsung were going to preinstall Clean Master on their smartphones, but it was quite a surprise for us to that they’ve loaded it on their flagship products globally”, Fu said. “Samsung’s endorsement will help Cheetah Mobile further its domestic and global expansion”, he added.
“Our primary goal this year is to commercialize Clean Master. We have already seen achievements in this aspect during Q4 last year. You can find more details in our fiscal report released later this year”, Fu noted. “Clean Master will continue to be our strategic focus, but we’re also developing several new products.”
Source: Gang Lu
Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)