Xiaomi makes POCO an independent company: What does it mean?
In a major surprise, Xiaomi has announced the decision to spin off POCO, a smartphone sub-brand it launched nearly two years ago, into a standalone company. The decision means that from now on POCO, which has launched just a single (albeit highly successful) smartphone, will work as an independent smartphone company, outside of the mitts of the Chinese smartphone giant. Here's all about it.
POCO gets its own identity
Xiaomi's announcement to make POCO independent came directly from Manu Kumar Jain, the VP of the company. Jain said POCO started off as a sub-brand but has grown into its own identity in a very short span of time. This is why, he added, they decided it should operate on its own - as an independent brand with its own team and market strategy.
POCO's one smartphone has been a big success, apparently
Under Xiaomi's control, POCO had launched just one smartphone - POCO F1. The device debuted in 2018 and became an instant hit for offering premium flagship-grade specs at an affordable price, something that OnePlus was known for in its early days. In fact, POCO F1 is still going strong in India and 49 other markets around the world.
What Manu Jain said about POCO F1
"POCO F1 is an extremely popular phone across user groups, and remains a top contender in its category even in 2020," Jain said in his statement, adding that "We feel the time is right to let POCO operate on its own now."
Here's what he tweeted
There have been questions over POCO's future
Having said that, the move to make POCO independent has at least confirmed that the company would continue to launch smartphones in the future. Lately, the brand's silence in the market, combined with the departure of its operational head Jai Mani, had led many to posit that Xiaomi could be thinking of scrapping POCO for other powerful mid-rangers in its line-up.
So, where POCO is headed now?
As of now, there is little to no information about how POCO will be structured as a company and what will be its strategy for future devices - will it continue to launch affordable flagship-grade phones or explore different price brackets? To note, POCO F2 had surfaced in trademark filings a week ago but there's no information about the device or its capabilities yet.
