Qihoo 360 is a company that makes a lot of people uncomfortable, in no small part because it has a reputation as ‘gangsterish’ thanks to its loudmouthed CEO Zhou Hongyi. And with 360 having just recently stuck its nose into the search market and caused considerable disruption, there’s plenty of reason for anyone in the tech buisness to be nervous. But Pony Ma can rest easy, Zhou Hongyi says, because Qihoo isn’t going to come after Tencent’s instant messaging software QQ.
At the China Internet Conference yesterday, Zhou made the following pledge during a panel discussion during a panel discussion:
I promise to Chairman Mao [Mao Zedong] and Chairman Ma [Pony Ma], Qihoo won’t release an instant messaging product; little Ma can relax.
He further explained that in the age of the mobile internet, doing a traditional PC based IM service would be difficult, saying, “I don’t have the ability to do that.” But, he added sarcastically, I really admire Lei Jun’s Xiaomi because that’s exactly what they are trying to do.
So, Zhou Hongyi is kind of obnoxious — this is something we already knew. But it will be interesting to see if he actually sticks to his word, especially as Qihoo moves deeper into the mobile space.
[via Sina Tech, Image source]
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