A little known Chinese tech startup has achieved the impressive feat of amassing more than one billion installs in just three years -- by focusing on countries outside China.

It’s in those countries that the company’s most popular product, the Apus Launcher, has done well. The app -- essentially an Android skin -- allows users to change wallpapers and customise their devices. And it runs smoothly on the lower-spec phones that are popular in emerging markets.

He said the secret to the company’s success outside China was to learn the needs of each country. In India it found that its content aggregator Apus Discovery was popular, thanks to a strong interest in videos with dancing and singing.