UCWeb

Last updated
UCWeb Inc
IndustryInternet
Founded2004;20 years ago (2004)
Founder He Xiaopeng
Liang Jie
Headquarters,
China
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Yu Yongfu (President)
Productsmobile web browser,
mobile search engine, etc.
Parent Alibaba Group [1]
Website www.ucweb.com

UCWeb Inc. (also known as UC Mobile [1] ) is a Chinese mobile Internet company that offers products and services that include mobile browser, UC News, and search engine services. Its flagship product, UC Browser, topped the Chinese, Indonesian and Indian markets in 2013. [2] [3]

Description

UCWeb was founded in 2004 as a mobile browser maker. Over the past decade, it diversified to areas such as mobile search, mobile gaming, mobile reading, etc. [4] [5] According to iResearch, in 2014, the company's UC Browser was the most popular browser of its kind in China, with more than 66% market share. [6] It's available in 11 languages (English, Hindi, Russian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, etc.) and on all major mobile OS platform (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Java ME, Blackberry, etc.). As of March 2014, UC Browser had over 500 million users around the globe. [7]

In April 2014, UCWeb and Alibaba Group jointly announced the formation of a JV named Shenma Inc. (Chinese :神马搜索; pinyin :Shénmǎ Sōusuǒ) that offers a mobile-only search engine in China. [8] [9]

In June 2014, UCWeb was acquired by Alibaba Group in the largest Chinese Internet merger deal. This will see UCWeb form the Alibaba UC mobile business group by assimilating and consolidating part of mobile-related businesses within the Alibaba Group. [10] [11] After the merger, under the leadership of Yu Yongfu, chief executive of UCWeb since 2006, the Alibaba UC mobile business group will oversee the browser, search, location-based service, app store, mobile gaming, and mobile reader operations. [12] [13] [14]

In 2015 it was revealed as part of the Snowden leaks that UCBrowser leaks sensitive IMSI, IMEI and MSISDN data, which was used by intelligence agencies to track users. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opera (company)</span> Norwegian software company

Opera is a multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Oslo, Norway with additional offices in Europe, China, and Africa. Opera offers a range of products and services that include a variety of PC and mobile web browsers, GameMaker and gaming portals, the Opera News content recommendation products, the Opera Ads platform, and a number of Web3 and e-commerce products and services. The company's total user base is 311 million monthly active users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baidu</span> Chinese web services company

Baidu, Inc. is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet services and artificial intelligence. It holds a dominant position in China's search engine market, and provides a wide variety of other internet services such as Baidu Search, Baidu App, Baidu Baike, iQIYI, and Baidu Tieba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alibaba Group</span> Chinese multinational technology company

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded as Alibaba, is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. Founded on 28 June 1999 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the company provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) sales services via Chinese and global marketplaces, as well as local consumer, digital media and entertainment, logistics and cloud computing services. It owns and operates a diverse portfolio of companies around the world in numerous business sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ma Huateng</span> Chinese business magnate (born 1971)

Ma Huateng is a Chinese business magnate, investor, politician, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Tencent, one of the most valuable companies in East Asia, one of the largest internet and technology companies, and one of the biggest investment, gaming, and entertainment conglomerates in the world. The company in Shenzhen develops China's biggest mobile instant messaging service, WeChat, and its subsidiaries provide media, entertainment, payment systems, smartphones, internet-related services, value-added services and online advertising services, both in China and globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taobao</span> Chinese website for online shopping

Taobao is a Chinese online shopping platform. It is headquartered in Hangzhou and is owned by Alibaba. According to Alexa rank, it was the eighth most-visited website globally in 2021. Taobao.com was registered on April 21, 2003 by Alibaba Cloud Computing (Beijing) Co., Ltd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VK (company)</span> Russian internet company

VK, known as Mail.ru Group until 12 October 2021, is a Russian technology company. It started in 1998 as the parent company of Mail.ru, an e-mail service and went on to become a major corporate figure in the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youku</span> Website

Youku Tudou Inc., doing business as Youku, is a video hosting service based in Beijing, China. It operates as a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tencent</span> Chinese conglomerate holding company

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its equity investments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UC Browser</span> Chinese web browser developed by UCWeb Inc

UC Browser is a web browser developed by mobile internet company UCWeb, a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group. It was the most popular mobile browser in India, Indonesia, and Mali, as well as the second-most popular one in China as of 2017. Its world-wide browser share as of May 2022 is 0.86% overall according to StatCounter.

The Conduit toolbar was an online platform that allowed web publishers to create custom toolbars, web apps, and mobile apps at no cost. It was developed by Conduit Inc. but demerged to Perion Network. Conduit had approximately 260,000 registered publishers who have collectively created content downloaded by more than 250 million end users. Web apps and pieces of content developed through Conduit's platform can be distributed and exchanged online via the Conduit App Marketplace. As of 2010, 60 million users consumed apps from the marketplace on a daily basis.

Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. was an operating business unit of IAC known for the development and marketing of entertainment and personal computing software, as well as mobile application development. Mindspark's mobile division acquired iOS application developer Apalon in 2014, which was known for popular entertainment applications such as Weather Live, Emoji Keypad, and Calculator Pro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AliOS</span> Linux distribution designed for smartphones

AliOS is a Linux distribution developed by Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Mainland Chinese company Alibaba Group. It is designed for smart cars and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and it had been used as a mobile operating system.

Peng Lei, also known as Lucy Peng, is a Chinese billionaire businesswoman. She is one of the founders of the e-commerce company Alibaba Group. As of March 2017, Peng was one of 21 self-made women billionaires in China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yu Yongfu</span> Chinese businessman

Yu Yongfu is a Chinese entrepreneur and chief executive of UCWeb Inc., a Chinese mobile Internet and software service best known for its popular UC Browser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">He Xiaopeng</span> Chinese entrepreneur

He Xiaopeng is a Chinese entrepreneur, best known for co-founding companies including XPeng Motors, an intelligent electric vehicle manufacturer, and UCWeb, the Chinese mobile Internet software and service provider he co-founded in 2004. UCWeb was acquired by Alibaba Group in June 2014 in the largest M&A deal ever in Chinese Internet industry. After acquisition, he was named as president of UCWeb and president of the Alibaba Mobile Business Group, and later served as the president of Tudou & Ali Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liang Jie (businessman)</span> Chinese technology executive and entrepreneur

Liang Jie is a Chinese technology executive and entrepreneur. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer of UCWeb Inc., a Chinese mobile Internet and software company he co-founded in 2004. UCWeb was acquired by Alibaba Group in June 2014 in the largest Chinese Internet merger deal ever. He is also the president of Shenma Inc., a joint venture formed by UCWeb and Alibaba that offers a mobile-centric search service.

APUS Group, founded in June 2014 by Tao Li, is a Chinese technology company specializing in Android development and information services. The company's main product is APUS User System, which have drawn over 1 billion users globally by 2016, along with other APUS series products, covering more than 200 countries in six continents. According to Tao Li, CEO of APUS, 90 percent of its users are from countries beyond China. It is one of the world's top 10 developers in mobile applications.

Meituan is a Chinese shopping platform for locally found consumer products and retail services including entertainment, dining, delivery, travel and other services. The company is headquartered in Beijing and was founded in 2010 by Wang Xing.

UC News is a news outlet of UCWeb, which is a business within Alibaba Mobile Business Group that is a part of the main Alibaba Group, founded by Jack Ma. UC News is integrated with UC Browser.

Shenma Inc. is a "mobile-first" search engine for China that was launched in April 2014. It is a joint venture between Alibaba Group and UCWeb. In April 2017, according to China Internet Watch, Shenma had an 8.8% of the China search engine market share, which made it the second most used search engine after Baidu. Shenma comes with UC Browser, a mobile browser with an estimated 20% share of China's browser market and over 30% of China's mobile browser marketshare. Shenma search was co-founded as a mobile search engine by UCWeb and Alibaba in 2013. In 2014, Alibaba acquired UCWeb.

References

  1. 1 2 "Alibaba Group Completes Full Acquisition and Integration of UCWeb". Alibaba Group. 2014-06-11.
  2. company profile, BusinessWeek
  3. UCWeb becomes first Chinese Internet company to hit No. 1 in India, adds Jack Ma to board Archived 2019-11-08 at the Wayback Machine , PandoDaily, Aug 21, 2013
  4. Alibaba-Backed UCWeb Scouts for Mobile Acquisitions, Bloomberg, Jan 16, 2014
  5. How UCWeb grew its dominant mobile browser position in China to create the UC 9Game platform, PocketGamer, Jun 12, 2014
  6. 2013年中国手机浏览器行业分析报告, iResearch, Feb 14, 2014
  7. Mobile browser-maker UCWeb, another global tech firm under the radar, crosses 500m users, TheNextWeb, Mar 21, 2014
  8. Alibaba, UCWeb plan mobile-search joint venture, MarketWatch, Apr 28, 2014
  9. Alibaba, UCWeb Team Up In Mobile Search, Forbes magazine, Apr 28. 2014
  10. Alibaba to buy out UCWeb in China's biggest internet merger, Reuters, June 11, 2014
  11. Alibaba Fully Buys Out UCWeb in China's Biggest Internet Deal Ever, Forbes magazine, June 11, 2014
  12. Alibaba Buys Remaining Stake in UCWeb, Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2014
  13. Alibaba to Acquire Rest of UCWeb to Boost Mobile Offering, Bloomberg, June 11, 2014
  14. UCWeb to accelerate international expansion after Alibaba merger, PCWorld, June 12, 2014
  15. Research group says UC Browser, owned by Alibaba, found to leak data - Reuters, 21 May 2015
  16. Spy agencies target mobile phones, app stores to implant spyware - CBC, 22 May 2015