Qihoo joins hands with Haier to explore smartphone market

China's anti-virus company Qihoo 360 Technology on July 3 said it had teamed up with the nation's home appliance giant Haier Group to offer a new device in the smartphone market, a move that will surely further stir up competition in the sector as the nation's Web companies jump into the game.

"As an Internet company, Qihoo has more than 100 million users and we are good at online marketing. Both of our specialties can help mobile phone makers explore the market and boost sales," said Zhou Hongyi, CEO of Qihoo 360.

China's Internet companies are gaining market share in the mid- and low-end mobile phone market where prices are usually lower than 2,000 yuan ($315).

The device, priced at 1,999 yuan, is equipped with a "retina display" screen which has the same pixels per inch as the iPhone 4S, said Yu Zida, vice-president of Haier.

Qihoo joined hands with Huawei and Alcatel earlier this year to develop smartphones, with all the devices priced below 2,000 yuan.