Xiaomi Makes Poco an Independent Brand in India, Says ‘It’s Grown Into Its Own Identity in a Short Span’

Xiaomi has also changed the Twitter profile photo of Redmi India, hinting that it may be converted into an independent brand as well.

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 17 January 2020 14:12 IST

Poco to operate out of Xiaomi’s umbrella moving forward

Highlights

Poco F1 successor may hopefully be unveiled this year
Redmi India also changed its profile photo on Twitter
Xiaomi spun Redmi into an independent brand in China last year

Xiaomi India Chief Manu Kumar Jain has announced that its sub-brand Poco is now making a huge transition to get an independent identity of its own. In 2018, Xiaomi introduced Poco as a sub-brand, and the first phone Poco F1 was a phenomenal success. At the onset of 2020, the company has announced that Poco will be operated as an independent vertical moving forward, outside of the Xiaomi brand. Separately, Xiaomi has also unveiled a new Redmi India profile photo for Twitter, saying 'Redmi by Xiaomi' Using the #Redmi2020, the company hints that Xiaomi may be looking to make the Redmi brand independent in India as well, after making it an independent brand in China last year.

Talking about the Poco announcement, Jain has tweeted that it will now operate as an independent brand. He didn't divulge in any details on what Poco's next move will be, or hint at a launch timeline for the Poco F1 successor. As mentioned, the Poco F1 was launched in 2018, and a successor is long overdue. The company will probably make an announcement regarding the matter soon. Jain says that the company feels that Poco is capable of operating on its own, as it has grown its own identity in a short span, thanks to the success of Poco F1. The Poco F1 was priced aggressively, but offered flagship level specifications and performance. The successor should keep up with the momentum, and offer an even more powerful package at an attractive price point.

In a press statement, Xiaomi India also revealed that with the restructuring, the Poco brand will run independently of Xiaomi, with "its own team and go to market strategy." Jain in the statement added, “What started as a sub-brand in Poco has grown into its own identity in a short span of time. 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. Join me in wishing the Poco team the best!”

Separately, Redmi India changed its profile photo on Twitter. The photo has a plain white background, with the ‘Redmi by Xiaomi' logo placed in the centre. The branding echoes the change made in China last year. The logo is minimalistic, and the tweet comes with the #Redmi 2020 indicating at big plans for the Redmi sub-brand this year. In an interview with Gadgets 360 last year, Jain had said that the company looks to launch fewer phones with high impact in the Redmi category. It could also be possible that the company announces Redmi as an independent brand, something that has already been announced in China last year. This year, the same strategy may be applied in the Indian market as well. Of course, this is pure speculation and there's no confirmation from Xiaomi's end as of yet.

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Is Poco X2 the new best phone under Rs. 20,000? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

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