Qihoo 360 and Coolpad link in US$409m mobile joint venture

Qihoo 360 Technology, owner of China's second-largest online search engine, will invest US$409.1 million to form a joint venture with Coolpad Group to expand in the country's mobile-internet industry.

Qihoo will take a 45 per cent stake in the e-commerce venture, which will market smartphones under the Dazen brand, the company said in a press release. Coolpad, the mainland smartphone maker, will inject assets into the venture, including some trademarks, domain names and software copyright, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

"This is one of the key initiatives we are taking to strengthen our position in Chinese mobile internet and further establish ourselves as a leading mobile internet platform in China," Hongyi Zhou, chairman and chief executive of Qihoo 360, said in the release.

Qihoo is following Chinese technology companies including Baidu that are increasing mobile investment.

The mainland had 632 million internet users as of June, with 83 per cent of them using mobile phones to access the web, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre.

Qihoo will be the default provider of key mobile services on Coolpad smartphones, including security, app sales and search, it said in the statement.