Xiaomi Spins Off Its Premium Sub-brand POCO as an Independent Company

Chinese smart electronics giant Xiaomi announced that its sub-brand POCO will become an independent company. Xiaomi launched POCO in 2018 as a premium smartphone brand expected to take on competitors like OnePlus and Samsung on the global stage. 

POCO’s recent operations have been riddled with problems. Several months ago, a top POCO executive and former Googler Jai Mani left the company followed by some other founding and core members of the team. 

To date, the brand has only released one smartphone, the F1. Xiaomi claims that the $300 handset which launched in 50 markets globally remains “successful”. It is, however, unclear, why the company failed to release other gadgets.

“POCO F1 is an extremely popular phone across user groups, and remains a top contender in its category even in 2020. We feel the time is right to let POCO operate on its own now, which is why we’re excited to announce that POCO will spin off as an independent brand,” said Manu Kumar Jain, VP of Xiaomi. 

While it was confirmed that POCO has become an independent company, its structure still remains under wraps.

The move comes mere weeks after Xiaomi announced it was planning to reposition itself as a premium smartphone brand while releasing low-end and mid-range models under its Redmi brand.