Mobile Tech Veteran Frank Fu Named President of KINGSOFT Office USA
Eric Villines and Scott Whiteker join executive team to focus on building global brand and expanding company's reach through new sales and partnerships
PALO ALTO, Calif., March 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- KINGSOFT Office Software, Inc. ("KINGSOFT"), a market leader in mobile and desktop office solutions, today announced the hire of Frank Fu as the company's new US-based president to oversee operations in the U.S., Europe and emerging markets. Additional hires include Eric Villines as vice president of global marketing and Scott Whiteker as vice president of business development. In their new roles, Fu, Villines and Whiteker will assume responsibility for leading KINGSOFT Office's multinational product and partnership expansion.
"We are pleased to have Frank, Eric and Scott join the company; as three industry veterans with years of experience in the mobile and internet technology space, they were the clear choice to help drive KINGSOFT's vision forward," said Mr. Ke Ge, CEO of KINGSOFT Office. "All three gentlemen will play an integral role in growing our consumer base as well as our global partnerships throughout 2014."
As president of KINGSOFT Office USA, Fu will oversee all operations outside of China, focusing on growing strategic partnerships and KINGSOFT's customer base. Fu was formerly a strategic consultant for a number of public technology firms including WaSu and RenRen. Additionally, Fu previously held the position of vice president at Bitfone Asia Pacific (an HP company) where he successfully won exclusive carrier accounts, such as China Mobile (CMCC) and China Unicom, to provide MDM platforms for more than 450 million subscribers.
VillInes brings with him more than 17 years of consumer branding experience. He will lead KINGSOFT Office's global marketing and communications strategy, helping to ensure the continued success of KINGSOFT's brand beyond China. Prior to KINGSOFT, Villines was senior vice president and deputy GM of the global technology practice at MWW Group, where he led public relations activities for Samsung Mobile for more than six years, helping to launch its first line of Galaxy branded devices. Prior to MWW Group, Villines played key roles in the development and execution of marketing strategy for top brands in the mobile, professional services and entertainment industries. Eric spent more than 10 years in Los Angeles developing marketing programs for several major film companies, including Castle Rock Entertainment, Sony Pictures and IMAX (large-format films).
Whiteker will oversee KINGSOFT Office's global sales team, focusing on the development of new business opportunities with carriers, manufacturers and software developers. Throughout his career, Whiteker has created and implemented numerous programs that marry technology and pop culture, including securing the partnership between Samsung Mobile and James Cameron's Avatar, which was used to launch the first Samsung Galaxy device in the U.S. Whiteker previously served as director of business development at RealNetworks. Prior to that, he held the role of director of marketing for a division of Samsung Mobile, and he was one of the earliest employees of the company that founded T-Mobile.
With these new hires, KINGSOFT Office has also opened its new North American headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. This office will oversee consumer marketing and global partnership development with major OEMs, software developers and service providers in the US, LATAM and EMEA. In November 2013, KINGSOFT Office completed a $50 million capital investment from Morningside Capital (Morningside), GGV Capital (GGV) and Shunwei China Internet Fund, L.P. (Shunwei).
KINGSOFT Office is available as a free download for PCs as well as Android and iOS mobile devices. To learn more about KINGSOFT Office visit: www.ksosoft.com.
About KINGSOFT Office Software, Inc.
Palo Alto-based KINGSOFT Office Software is the market leader in mobile and desktop office solutions. With over 170 million registered users, the company's KINGSOFT Office for Android is the most popular, free mobile office solution on Google Play, featuring robust capabilities for reading, editing and sharing word documents, presentations and spreadsheets from smartphones and tablets. The KINGSOFT Office suite is also available for other platforms including iOS, Linux and Windows desktop. More information can be found at: www.ksosoft.com. Or, follow @kingsoft_office on Twitter.
SOURCE KINGSOFT Office Software, Inc.
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