Deal focus: China's Remix plans to rattle Windows
"Many people look at us and think we're a hardware company. That's actually not accurate," says Jeremy Zhou, co-founder of Beijing-based Jide Technology. "What we really focus on isn't the hardware product but a new operating system (OS) inside the tablet."
The two-year-old start-up recently launched the Remix Ultra-tablet, which has an 11.6-inch high-definition touchscreen with a full size keyboard and a stand that can be positioned at an angle of 40 or 80 degrees. The similarities with Microsoft's Surface tablet are plain to see but they do not extend to the operating system - Jide devised the Remix OS, which is a modified version of Android OS.
Last week, Jide upgraded Remix OS to Android 5 and also secured RMB100 million ($16 million) in Series A funding led by Trustbridge Partners. Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group and Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com also participated.
A graduate of Stanford University, Zhou was among the first batch of software engineers to work on Google's advertising platform AdWorks around 2000. He joined Google China in 2007 and then left to form Jide, with ex-Google engineers Ben Luk and David Ko, in mid-2013. They want to bring back the comfort and productivity of Windows OS without losing the benefits of a mobile operating system. It is hoped that Android OS will also encourage internet companies to create separate apps for PCs.
"You have a lot of apps on your mobile phone but not on your PC. When you open the computer, all of the web pages come under a single browser," says Zhou. "There should be a new OS to replace Windows but no one knows what that should be. We could be an answer."
There are still a lot of technical difficulties in developing an OS that integrates mobile devices and PCs - Linux tried and failed to challenge Windows' dominance. Jide also initially struggled to convince investors that the company was worth backing. While mobile devices have proliferated in recent years, the next generation of PCs has yet to gain traction.
Trustbridge was different. When Zhou quit Google in 2008, he plunged into angel investing in China and got to know the PE firm. He says that Trustbridge has "complete trust" in Jide. Foxconn, the largest contract manufacturer for Apple, manufactured Remix tablet's prototype for free, and offered advice on hardware design and R&D. JD.com, meanwhile, helps Jide promote and sell its products online.
The company is now selling its tablets directly to consumers, but the bigger goal is to license Remix OS to device makers. Chinese manufacturer Cube launched a Remix OS-based tablet PC, selling at RMB999. "We started to see few competitors three months ago but no one can compare to us in terms of software. We aren't just selling in China, but also in the US. In the future, our products will of benefit to a lot of emerging markets," says Zhou.
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