Careers at Kingsoft
Mission
Kingsoft aims to provide reliable and innovative software products, including office software and antivirus solutions, as well as various internet services to consumers and commercial customers.
Business segments
Kingsoft divides its operations into three reportable business segments:
- Entertainment Software, which is engaged in the development of games, and the operation of online gaming, mobile gaming and casual gaming services;
- Information Security and Internet Services, which is engaged in the research, development and operation of information security software, internet browser technology, and mobile applications, and the provision of online marketing services and multi-channel internet value-added services; and
- Office Software and Others, which is engaged in the research, development and distribution of office application software, and the provision of cloud storage, cloud computation and dictionary services.
History
Kingsoft was founded in 1988 by the JinShan Company, a manufacturer of IBM computers, itself incorporated in 1973. The Company made a name for itself by developing word processing software and other office-focused software products, launching its flagship Word Processing System 1.0 in 1989.
While office software solutions remain a significant part of Kingsoft’s business operations, the Company has since diversified its offerings to include online marketing services, security and anti-virus protection, online gaming and mobile internet services. The Company is one of the largest technology and software companies in Asia, particularly its home market of Hong Kong and in Mainland China.
Kingsoft listed shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2007, raising around $99 million in its initial public offering. The Company today has a market capitalisation of HKD 20.84 billion (approximately $2,69 billion).




Business model of Kingsoft
Customer Segments
Kingsoft serves a range of customers through its three business segments, including general consumers and commercial entities. The Company’s main customers are distributors, including independent software vendors, and internet service operators, as well as individual consumer users of gaming services, internet services, and application software products.
Kingsoft additionally serves a range of advertisers, brand marketers and corporates, providing a suite of advertising and marketing solutions across its operating segments.
Kingsoft’s products and services are targeted at the Asian markets, with Mainland China accounting for the majority of the Company’s annual sales revenue. Kingsoft also serves customers across smaller Asian markets, including Malaysia, where it operates a subsidiary.
For the year ended 31st December 2015, Kingsoft’s five largest customers accounted for 34% of the Company’s total revenue, while the largest single customer accounted for 18% of the total revenue. The Company’s annual report does not name this customer.
Value Propositions
Kingsoft provides value to its customers in the following ways:
- Its technical expertise and technologies, with the Company employing expert, specialist staff across its operating segments and developing new and innovative technologies;
- Its expertise in and experience of the Asian markets, with the Company focusing on its regional markets, allowing it to provide a more tailored service to its customer base;
- The accessibility of its services, with many of the Company’s products and services available online, as well as through mobile applications;
- Its broad portfolio of software and service offerings, spanning antivirus and security software, to gaming services and online marketing solutions; and
- Its pricing and provision of free products and services, with many of its services and software products available at no costs, with other products priced competitively.
Channels
Kingsoft operates a number of online channels. It hosts a website at www.kingsoft.com, through which it provides information to customers on its various services and products. It also operates Chinese and English-language sales channels through which it sells a range of consumer software products, office software and antivirus products, and operates online gaming portals for web games and more in-depth online multiplayer games.
Kingsoft also operates its own direct sales force, which operates through sales and service offices primarily in China and Hong Kong, primarily serving the Company’s larger corporate and commercial clients. The Company’s in-house sales teams are supported by a network of channel partners, including retail distributors, independent software vendors, and resellers that extend the Company’s sales reach.
Customer Relationships
Many of Kingsoft’s services and products are available to consumers on a self-service basis. Customers are able to purchase and download software and security products, as well as activate free software trials, through the Company’s online stores, and access online gaming services autonomously without interacting with members of the Kingsoft sales team.
More complex services and product offerings, notably those offered to corporate and commercial client, are provided through the Kingsoft sales teams, with customers interacting directly with Company representatives in order to more accurately demonstrate their individual needs. The Company seeks to establish long-term relationships with its commercial clients, often agreeing multi-year contracts.
Kingsoft offers a range of support services through its various websites, providing technical support for its software products and gaming services through its online channels. Customer are able to contact Kingsoft’s support staff by email and over the phone, receiving a personalised response to queries and concerns.
Key Activities
Kingsoft, along with its subsidiaries, provides range of software, internet and online gaming services.
The Company in three business segments: Entertainment Software, comprising the development and provision of online games, mobile games, and casual gaming services; Information Security and Internet Services comprising the Company’s development of information security software, mobile applications, internet browsing solutions, and the provision of online marketing services and Internet value-added services; and Office Software and Others, comprising the development and distribution of office application software, and the provision of cloud storage, cloud computation and dictionary services across various electronic devices.
Key Partners
Kingsoft partners with a range of companies across its three operating segments. These partners can be broadly categorised as follows:
- Supplier Partners, comprising suppliers of package materials for the Company’s software products, suppliers of bandwidth services, and suppliers of resources that help to sustain the Company’s supply chain;
- Channel Partners, comprising distributors, affiliate marketers, resellers, independent software vendors and retailers that extend the reach of the Company’s own in-house sales and marketing force;
- Technology and Integration Partners, comprising technology companies, software developers and original equipment manufacturers that integrate third-party services and technology into Kingsoft’s products; and
- Alliance Partners, comprising high-profile technology companies, with which the Company collaborates on joint-venture projects and shares tools and resources.
Kingsoft has recently launched partnerships with Unowhy to expand its education offerings; with Dropbox, making the company its principal cloud storage integration partner; and with Dell regarding distribution of Kingsoft products across Japan and India.
Key Resources
Kingsoft’s key resources are its technologies and intellectual properties, its research and development facilities, its IT infrastructure, its sales and distribution channels, its partnerships, and its personnel.
Kingsoft protects its products and intellectual properties through various patent, copyright and trademark laws. The Company owns a number of patents both domestically and internationally. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified one patent in which a Kingsoft company was named as an applicant: ‘Method and apparatus for power management on mobile devices and associated mobile devices’.
Cost Structure
Kingsoft incurs costs in relation to the development of its software solutions and products, the maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the management of its sales and distribution channels, the management of its partnerships and alliances, and the retention of its personnel.
Kingsoft incurs substantial research and development costs, which amounted in 2015 to RMB 1.37 billion. Kingsoft employs more than 5,000 employees across its three operating segments, representing costs in the form of salaries and benefits, and operates a network of offices, service centres and facilities across China and parts of Asia, accruing fixed costs in the form of rental and utility fees.
Revenue Streams
Kingsoft generates revenue through the sale of software products and the provision of online gaming and internet services. The Company divides its revenue into several separate streams:
- Provision of gaming services;
- Provision of online marketing services;
- Provision of internet value-added services;
- Sale of software products and related services;
- Royalties; and
- Others.
In 2015 Kingsoft generated annual revenue of RMB 5.68 billion, an increase of 69% on the RMB 3.35 billion recorded in 2014. Approximately 24% of this revenue was generated by the Company’s online game business, and 13% of the revenue was generated by the Company’s office software and others business.
The majority of the Company’s revenue, around 63%, was generated through advertising solutions provided through the Company’s mobile internet business Cheetah Mobile.
Our team
info: Hong Jiang Zhang (“Zhang”) has served as Chief Executive Officer at Kingsoft since 2011 and as Chief Executive Officer of Kingsoft Cloud since 2012. He also holds a number of directorships within the Kingsoft Group. Zhang began his career in 1991 as a member of the technical staff at the Institute of Systems Science in Singapore. In 1994 he joined HP Labs as a research manager, a role he held for more than four years. Zhang went on to be appointed Assistant Managing Director at Microsoft Research Asia in 1999, later serving as Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer for Asia Pacific Research and Development and Managing Director of the Advanced Technology Sector. Zhang co-founded internet technology company Zhigu in 2012, serving as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until 2016. Zhang holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Zhengzou University and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Danmarks Tekniske Universitet.
info: Yuk Keung Ng (“Ng”) was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Kingsoft in 2012 and became an executive director of the Company in 2013. He also serves as a director of certain Kingsoft subsidiaries, including mobile internet company Cheetah Mobile. Ng is an experienced financial executive. He began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked for more than 12 years from 1988, serving in a number of different roles. In 2001 he was made Chief Financial Officer of the International School of Beijing. He left this position in 2003 to join Australian Business Lawyers, primarily advising on accounting matters. From 2004 to 2006 Ng served as Deputy Chief Financial Officer of IRICO Group Electronics Company, going on to serve from 2006 to 2010, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at China Huiyuan Juice Group. Before joining Kingsoft Ng worked briefly at China NT Pharma Group as Chief Financial Officer. Ng holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and a master’s degree in Global Business Management and E-commerce from the University of Hong Kong. He is a professional accountant, a fellow member of both the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.