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He cited health problems arising from living in Beijing as the reason for his resignation

Hugo Barra pictured on the right

Hugo Barra, the man responsible for leading Xiaomi’s global expansion, has announced his resignation today in a Facebook post. He cited health problems that arose from living in Beijing (possibly referring to the city’s polluted air) as the reason for his departure. The post also hinted at homesickness as another factor.

“My friends, what I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family. Seeing how much I’ve left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return,” he said in the post.

“As I thought about this late last year, I concluded that Xiaomi is in a very good place on its global expansion path, and if there was ever going to be a good time for me to come back home, that time is now — when I can confidently say our global business is no longer just an in-house startup,” he added.

Barra will officially leave the company after the Chinese New Year in February. He will then take a break before heading back to Silicon Valley. He did not furnish further details.

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The former Vice President of Google’s Android division first joined Xiaomi in September 2013 as Vice President of International. Under his charge, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer expanded its reach beyond China into regional markets such as Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Barra claimed that in India alone, Xiaomi was able to reap over US$1 billion in revenue. Later, Xiaomi entered international markets including Brazil, Russia, Poland and Mexico. And although its primary focus is smartphones, Xiaomi ventured into other product verticals including televisions, Android TV boxes, and oddly enough, rice cookers. It also released its own mobile payments platform.

Xiang Wang, who is currently Senior Vice President of Strategic Cooperation at Xiaomi, will be taking over the reins from Barra. Wang was formerly the President of wireless telecommunications manufacturer Qualcomm’s Greater China division.

While Xiaomi’s product line and market growth has been fast and furious, its sales statistics paint a less rosy picture. Last year, sales of Xiaomi’s smartphones dropped 38.4 per cent year-on-year, in part due to fierce competition from rival Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as Huawei and Oppo. When he takes on his new role, Wang will face an uphill task in helping Xiaomi reverse its fortunes and retains its competitive edge – both in pricing and innovation – against its rivals.

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Image Credit: Hugo Barra

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