Xiaomi is spinning off its subsidiary brand POCO as an independent company starting this year, multiple sources reported.
POCO, which delivered to almost 50 markets the bang-for-the-buck Pocophone F1, will now work independently moving forward. This was ultimately decided after several high-profile executives and core members from the brand had exited, including former Googler Jai Mani. Mi’s Global VP, Manu Kumar Jain, brought the news to Twitter.
Xiaomi was not able to follow through with a Pocophone successor partly due to realignment in their Mi device portfolio, TechCrunch theorizes. The company released similar phones such as the Redmi K20 Pro, filling the gap that POCO initially created in the market.
Tarun Pathak, a senior analyst at research firm Counterpoint, told the publication that the move would allow the Mi brand to be successful in the premium smartphone segment. This happens as the company begins to seriously look at 5G adoption.
“POCO can continue to make flagship-class devices, but at lower price points and 4G connectivity. 5G as a strategy requires a premium series which has consistent message across geographies…and Mi makes that cut in a more efficient way than POCO,” he said.
