Xiaomi’s Global Vice President Manu Jain Steps Down After Nine Years
Xiaomi’s global vice president and former head of its India business Manu Kumar Jain on Monday announced his resignation after about nine years with the company. The development comes amid the ongoing legal battle between the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Xiaomi over the company’s alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
“Change is the only constant in life! Over the last 9 years I have been fortunate enough to receive so much love that this goodbye is so hard. Thank you all. The end of one journey also marks the beginning of a new one, full of exciting opportunities. Hello, a new adventure!” Jain said in a tweet.
Jain was the one who led Xiaomi’s launch in India in 2014.
In May 2014, he joined the company as Country Manager and was given the role of President for the Indian Subcontinent, leading operations in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
“After nine years, I am leaving the Xiaomi Group. I am confident that this is the right time as we have strong leadership teams globally. I wish the Xiaomi teams globally all the best and hope they achieve even greater success,” said Jain.
In January 2017, he was promoted to Global Vice President.
In mid-2021, Jain moved his base to Dubai.
“Our growing scale of operations has helped create over 50,000 jobs in India. After building a strong team and business, I wanted to help other markets with our learnings. With this intention, I moved abroad about 1.5 years ago (in July 2021) and subsequently joined the Xiaomi International team,” he said.
About a year after Jain moved to Dubai, the ED started action against Xiaomi.
During his tenure, Xiaomi became the top-selling smartphone brand in India in 2017, according to analyst estimates, despite some controversies surrounding security-related issues within the company.
Xiaomi has allayed concerns by setting up data centers in India to store data of customers and other companies.
“The first few years were full of ups and downs. We started as a one-man startup, working out of a small office. We were the smallest among hundreds of smartphone brands, and that too with limited resources and no relevant prior experience in the industry. But thanks to the efforts of a fantastic team, we were able to build one of the most loved brands in the country,” Jain said.
In January 2018, Xiaomi attracted an investment from Ratan Tata.
Jain played a major role in the production of Xiaomi smartphones and later televisions in India.
According to Counterpoint Research, the company was the market leader in the Indian smartphone market in 2022 with a market share of 20 percent. However, Xiaomi dropped to the third position, after Samsung and Vivo, in the October-December quarter of 2022.
