Manu Kumar Jain, who was the face of Xiaomi in India and played various roles in the company for almost a decade, has quit the Chinese firm indicating he would be joining a new industry after taking ‘some time-off’.
Jain had joined the Xiaomi Group in 2014 to start its India journey, but grew rapidly within three years of its operations in the country and became number one smartphone brand also.
He was Global Vice President, Xiaomi International in his last role, which he took up in July 2021 in Dubai, to look after strategies and growth.
Builder at heart
“Over the next few months, I will take some time-off, before taking up my next professional challenge. I am a builder at heart and would love to build something new, ideally in a new industry. I am proud of having been a small part of the ever growing startup community, twice. I hope to return to it with another fulfilling challenge,” he said in a social media post.
He further said that “Nothing is impossible if people with the right intent come together. If you have interesting ideas that can empower millions, I would love to talk.”
When asked Xiaomi India, the company in a statement confirmed Jain’s exit. “In a short span of seven years at Xiaomi India, Manu Kumar Jain played an instrumental role in the company’s success leading it to be India’s most loved and trusted brand. We would like to thank him for his valuable contribution to the business, and the smartphone industry in India and wish him success in his future endeavours and pursuits.”
Jain was one of the earliest employees of Xiaomi India with a small office, joining the company after co-founding Jabong.
“The first few years were full of ups and downs. We started as a one-person startup, working from a small little office. We were the smallest amongst the hundreds of smartphone brands, that too with limited resources and no prior relevant industry experience. But due to the efforts of a fantastic team, we were able to build one of the most loved brands in the country,” he wrote.
He further wrote that Xiaomi India was a small catalyst in the Make-in-India revolution as soon 100 per cent smartphones and smart televisions were being made in India. “Our expanding scale of operations helped generate more than 50,000 jobs in India,” he added.
However, over the last one year, since Jain had stepped down from India operations, the company has seen various others stepping down from the leadership positions. For instance, Raghu Reddy, Chief Business Officer, resigned in December, followed by Sumit Sonal, General Manager of Marketing, earlier this month. In May last year, Sunil Baby, Director of offline sales also had resigned to join Unacademy.
Over the last one year, Jain has been interrogated several times by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Xiaomi’s alleged violation of the foreign exchange rules. The ED had initiated investigation in connection with the illegal remittances made by the company February last year. According to the agency, Xiaomi India had remitted foreign currency equivalent to Rs.5,551.27 crore to three foreign-based entities which include one Xiaomi group entity in the guise of royalty.