Smart moves taking security company to top of US market

NetQin Mobile Inc, the New York Stock Exchange-listed Chinese mobile-security company, expects to be first in the US smartphone security market in less than three years, CEO and Chairman Henry Lin said.

Lin said overseas revenue currently accounts for nearly 45 percent of the company's total, adding that the ratio would climb to more than half by year-end.

He forecast total revenue would rise more than 80 percent this year.

NetQin said net profit attributable to shareholders jumped 343.5 percent year-on-year to $4.3 million in the third quarter of 2011.

The United States has become NetQin's fastest-growing overseas market since the company hired its first local employee in 2009. NetQin was among the top three players in the market, with more than 5 million users, Lin said.

The California-based Lookout Mobile Security Inc, the biggest mobile-security service provider in the US, reportedly had 12 million users at the end of 2011.

"NetQin's success in the United States will be noted internationally, which will help the company conquer other markets, such as Japan and Europe," said Lin.

To become number one in the US, he said NetQin would need to account for at least 40 percent in market share and gain 20 million to 30 million users by 2014.

Chris Stier, managing director Americas for NetQin, said in a press release at the end of 2011 that the company was adding more than 200,000 users a day.

The company's mobile applications, which cover most mobile operating systems such as Apple Inc's iOS and Android, have 122 million customers in more than 100 countries, although much of its business is in China.

Strengthening its competitiveness in the US market, NetQin appointed Omar Khan, former chief product and technology officer of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, as co-chief executive officer.

Khan is based in the US and will focus on the global expansion of NetQin in markets such as North America and Latin America.

Last September, the company opened the NetQin Security Research Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The center focuses on identifying and monitoring mobile-security threats.

Lin said NetQin would triple its US staff by year-end to about 30 people, with more than 90 percent being local employees.

NetQin had about 56.3 million registered users in China in the third quarter, ranking it first in China with a market share of 61.5 percent, according to the Beijing-based researcher SINO Marker Research Ltd.