Qihoo CEO says he was 'stabbed in the back' after LeTV invests US$352m in smartphone maker Coolpad

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LeTV has invested US$352 in Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad. Photo: Kan CP/Flickr

Published: 4:05pm, 30 Jun 2015

LeTV, an online video content provider and one of the latest Chinese companies to enter the smartphone industry, has bought an 18 per cent stake in Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad for US$352 million.

LeTV is now Coolpad’s second largest shareholder, after purchasing the shares from Data Dreamland Holding, which now owns about 20 per cent of the company.

Coolpad, which is mainland China’s third largest smartphone company, has over 5,000 mobile-related patents that may be of interest to LeTV as the latter branches into the smartphone industry.

LeTV has been looking to diversify into the smartphone and electric car manufacturing industry after the Chinese government restricted the streaming of overseas programmes and TV series on online platforms.

In a bid to court Hong Kong audiences, the company is also splurging up to HK$1 million per episode on the television dramas it produces for the city.

Chinese internet security giant Qihoo’s chief executive Zhou Hongyi was not pleased about LeTV’s latest investment. According to TechWeb, Zhou wrote on WeChat that "whoever stabbed me in the back and is trying to screw me, my principle is that I will definitely f**k back".

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