Qihoo launches a smartphone that comes only at a price of $64. (Photo : Reuters)
Qihoo 360, a prime Chinese Internet security firm, is the latest to join the plethora of enterprises entering the already-crowded smartphone market in the country with its latest team-up with Coolpad.
The partnership launched on May 6 a new smartphone under the brand "QiCool," according to a Want Daily report.
The unveiling comes after Gree Electric Appliances and LeTV, both leaders in the market of the product they produce (air conditioners and entertainment, respectively) introduced their own brands of smartphone.
Gree has recently launched Gree smartphone, while LeTV rolled out Le Superphones.
While Gree's chairman Dong Mingzhu stated that the gadgets are already out in the market, Beijing Business Today reported otherwise, saying that Gree smartphones are still nowhere to be seen and their prices are yet to be announced.
On the other hand, LeTV launched three models of its Le Superphone in mainland China in the middle of April. The entertainment firm's devices laud their 20-30-percent lower price compared with high-end products of the same specifications and features.
For this year, LeTV eyes to sell a million units and 10 million more in 2016.
Furthermore, e-commerce giant Alibaba and China Telecom Group have jointly unveiled an economical smartphone in late April that targets markets in the rural areas and other smaller cities.
However, the smartphone market has seen a recent significant sales growth decrease. In a German-based market research company GfK report, the total 2015 Q1 smartphone sales reached only 99 million units, a 5.6-percent quarter-on-quarter decrease.
The biggest fractions of the market share are still enjoyed by the top three tech firms, namely Huawei, Samsung and Apple, respectively.
Huawei has set new records after selling over four million units of its flagship product Mate 7, which was first released in mid-November of 2014.
