Beijing: Apus is determined to manufacture the smallest, fastest, simplest user system for Android it can. The Apus has picked up more than 30 million users around the world since June, made RM B 100 million ($16.3 million) in Series A funding and employs 100 people in Beijing, but somehow it’s managed to fly under the radar until now.
Li’s reputation as a respected personality in the Chinese tech industry precedes him. He’s made his name by spearheading Qihoo’s international arm and confides that he left the company in May to fly solo, severing all ties. “We have no connection to Qihoo,” Li attests.
But he’s borrowing from his international experience at the Chinese software giant. Apus is making a name for itself by targeting overseas markets, rather than local Chinese users. And for a Chinese company, launching to the international market first is definitely going against the grain.But so far, Li’s choice seems justified. Apus Launcher is on track for 50 million total users by next month. The app has also peaked at No. 1 in more than 30 countries in the Google Play store.
But why tackle the international market in the first place? To put it simply, it’s a matter of market opportunity, and as Li explains, “the overseas market is three times larger than the China market.” More importantly, the competition isn’t as “fierce” as it is in China, where the four tech giants Baidu, Alibaba, Ten-cent and Qihoo 360 (not to mention tens of thousands of smaller competitors) jockey for market share.
In many ways competing in the international market is the easy way out of a hard problem. “There are three types of Internet markets – the US Internet, China Internet, and everyone else. We’re targeting the US and everyone else,” said Li.
Despite its small size, Apus’ baked-in intelligence provides its users with a convenient way to organize their home screen, without actually having to make an effort to clean up. Most frequently used apps are at first launched to the first page of Apus Launcher’s home screen, while remaining apps are automatically categorized on the second page of the launcher. A few competitors offer these features, Li admits; however he claims that Apus is able to organize the user’s home screen the fastest.
