NetQin betting big on mobile security
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China's mobile security market may surpass personal computers by 2012 as demand for mobile safety increases with 3G services gaining more ground, said a senior official of mobile security firm Beijing NetQin Tech Co Ltd.
"Mobile users now largely surpass PC users and this makes the catching up possible," said Jason Lu, vice-president of the company, in an exclusive interview with China Daily yesterday.
Lu added, however, that this could happen only after more consumers switch to smartphones and the need for mobile safety goes up.
"Smartphones, with a penetration rate of less than 20 percent, are not that popular now in China, and mobile functions, like e-payment and mobile games, are not yet widely used. It will take some more time for people to understand the importance of mobile safety."
Lu said NetQin would look to list its shares at an opportune time as and when the market has reached a considerable mass.
According to research firm Frost & Sullivan, China's mobile security market may touch 1.36 billion yuan by 2014 and have about 64.8 million active users from 9.1 million at present. NetQin had a 68 percent share of the market in the third quarter of this year, followed by Kaspersky Labs and RISING.
Wang Liusheng, an analyst with domestic research firm Analysys International, said PC security software makers like Kaspersky Labs have advantages of greater brand recognition among customers and more resources accumulated in the PC anti-virus field.
NetQin is likely to register a growth of 40 to 50 percent in revenue this year, said Lu without disclosing any figures.
The company is also planning to open offices in Europe and the Middle East next year, in an effort to increase its overseas presence. The company has over 30 million customers and nearly 20 percent are from 200 overseas.
The company has also teamed up with telecom carriers, such as China Mobile, to offer safety services and share revenues. It also cooperates with major handset makers to pre-install its software.
"The development of the market requires joint efforts from different players, and telecom carriers may act as a leader as they can integrate different resources and come out with final solutions for customers," said Wang.
Mobile users reached 730 million by the end of October, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.
Main services of NetQin include anti-virus, anti-harassment and privacy protection.
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