Headquarter of Qihoo 360 Technology Co. in?Beijing. [CFP]

Qihoo 360 Technology Co., China's leading IT company, has said that it is requesting additional information from Apple Inc. after several of its applications were removed from Apple's online store. Removed applications include the company's mobile anti-virus software, mobile browser, and battery monitoring software. No specific reasons were given for the products' removal.

Industrial analysts said that the products may have been removed as a result of possible breaches of Apple Store's rules on free software or manipulation of App Store rankings.

The IT company said in a statement yesterday that its mobile anti-virus software has a market share of more than 60 percent and 70 million users have gained access to this software.

China's business press carried the story above on?Tuesday.

Contact the writer of this story at: hes@china.org.cn.