(Chinese Version)

　　Wang Yulin, CEO of Kingsoft Cloud

　　Editor’s Note:

　　With the rise of cloud computing, an increasing number of enterprises have stopped wondering if they should give involved, but rather “where’s the opportunity?” and “how should I get involved”. Kingsoft Cloud, as one of the top-tier cloud service providers in China, maintained a growth rate of over 100 per cent for two consecutive years. How did Kingsoft manage to do so? To find out, TMTPost had an exclusive interview with Wang Yulin, CEO of Kingsoft Cloud.

　　According to latest "China Public Cloud Services Tracker", released by internationally-renowned research firm IDC, as of the end of 2016, Alibaba Cloud accounted for 40.67 per cent of China’s public cloud market share, Tencent Cloud accounted for another 7.34 per cent, while Kingsoft Cloud grabbed 6.02 per cent. Likewise, according to CCID Consulting’s “2016-2017 Analysis Report on China's IaaS Market”, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud and Kingsoft Cloud ranked as the top three players in the Chinese public cloud market. Although their specific market share figure differed, both reports suggested that Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud and Kingsoft Cloud have already formed the top tier in the Chinese public cloud market.

　　Subsequently, on the evening of May 23rd, Kingsoft released the Q1 earnings report of 2017 and disclosed, for the first time, separate earnings of its public cloud business, the second Chinese cloud service provider to do so (Alibaba Cloud is the first). In Q1 2017, Kingsoft Cloud’s revenue totaled RMB 268.4 million, up by 108 per cent year-on-year. In other words, Kingsoft Cloud has maintained high growth rate for two consecutive years.

　　Based on IDC’s report, Kingsoft Cloud’s growth rate reached 251.5 per cent and 130 per cent in 2015 and 2016, respectively. How did Kingsoft manage to do so in the fierce Chinese public cloud market?

　　To find out, TMTPost had an exclusive interview with Wang Yulin, CEO of Kingsoft Cloud. He told TMTPost that the first half battle in the Chinese IaaS public cloud market had come to an end, revealed the secret behind Kingsoft Cloud’s rapid growth and detailed the new challenges in aspects such as technology, market, capital and business model in the era of industry internet.

　　Kingsoft Cloud’s close relationship with Kingsoft and Xiaomi

　　When we look back on the development path of Kingsoft Cloud, we may easily find the trace of Kingsoft and Xiaomi. From the aspect of capital structure, Kingsoft Software Group holds a stake of 52 per cent in Kingsoft Cloud, while Xiaomi is the second biggest shareholder; from the aspect of business operation, while Xiaomi’s core business includes smartphones, 2C and smart home, Kingsoft itself is an IT service company. Therefore, it may, after all, be a good choice for Lei Jun to let Kingsoft run cloud computing service, a business quite promising for Lei.

　　Starting from Xiaomi, Kingsoft Cloud’s business has expanded into game, video, government, health and other vertical sectors after several years of development. However, whenever Kingsoft is mentioned, people may still be curious about its relationship with Xiaomi.

　　"Basically, the two sides are joint venture partners in terms of capital and mutually collaborative in business," Wang Yulin, CEO of Kingsoft Cloud, told TMTPost.

　　As a start-up, Kingsoft Cloud’s main business started by centering around Xiaomi’s business. Such as data storage. In fact, all the user data of Xiaomi users is stored on Kingsoft Cloud. By 2014, Kingsoft Cloud has become the largest Chinese cloud storage company.

　　Starting from 2014, Kingsoft Cloud began to carry out the full line of public cloud services, from game, video cloud to original internet service. Besides internet-based services, Kingsoft Cloud also gradually rolled out services in the government and health sector.

　　In a sense, Kingsoft is born with a silver spoon. Lei Jun, chairman of Kingsoft Software, came up with the “All in Cloud” concept and invested $1 billion in the cloud computing service sector. As one of the core business of Kingsoft Software, Kingsoft Software’s other subsidiaries, including Cheetah Mobile, Xishanju Game Studio and WPS, etc. would all provide strong support for Kingsoft Cloud.

　　From the aspect of business operation, cloud services of Cheetah Mobile, Xishanju Game Studio, WPS and even startups inside Xiaomi’s ecosystem are all mainly provided by Kingsoft Cloud. Since public cloud has already become a major trend, internet companies would all put away their information infrastructure on cloud. Kingsoft Cloud, Kingsoft Group's other subsidiaries, and members of Xiaomi’s ecosystem all adopt independent settlement modes.