Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is said to have bought 3 per cent stake in Kingsoft Corp from Tencent Holdings for $67.99 million, according to a Kingsoft filing.
The deal is expected to be closed by 30 January, the filing in Hong Kong exchange said. Tencent Holdings is a Chinese social networking and video game giant which still holds 9.6 per cent in Kingsoft.
Kingsoft started out with developing video games for PC but slowly branched out to producing security, entertainment and enterprise apps. Today, the company is valued over $2 billion. Kingsoft already has a link to Xiaomi as the founder Lei Jun is also founder and chairman of Kingsoft.
The investment comes as Xiaomi expands its sights after becoming the world’s most valuable startup in December with a valuation of more than $46 billion. Xiaomi is looking to expand in content and software, announcing in November that it would put $1 billion toward the acquisition of video content. It is also looking for new partnerships with device makers, as it seeks to connect its phones to more everyday devices. Previously, Xiaomi acquired hardware companies like appliance maker Midea and wearables start-up – Misfit. This investment in a software company lays ground for the content acquisition and helps expand more gaming titles to its devices.
Xiaomi has brought in the New Year with a bang and had three launches in the span on 20 days. Today, in an event, the company has launched their Bluetooth gaming gamepad. This is the company’s first gamepad and is compatible with your smart TV, phone, tablet or android box. Xiaomi has confirmed that the gamepad will be compatible with all the Android devices and will not be exclusive to its own devices.
Xiaomi says that its battery can last up to 80 hours of gameplay and the device offers a 3 axis accelerometer. Its design offers a lot of curves and the company says it’s ergonomic, so it should fit anyones hand quite nicely. Xiaomi’s Bluetooth Gamepad has a 10-meter working distance and it measures 156 x 104 x 65mm while it weighs 220 grams.
The gamepad is currently available only in China and costs 99 Yuan.