Manu Jain announced his departure from Xiaomi Group, where he served as the India head for 7.5 years and then moved to a global role 1.5 years ago.

By India Today Tech: Manu Jain has decided to leave Xiaomi to build something new. Jain announced his departure from Xiaomi Group, where he served as the India head for 7.5 years and then moved to a global role 1.5 years ago. Jain joined Xiaomi back in 2014 and after 9 long years he has decided to move out of the tech company.

What is Jain up to next? In a note Jain posted on his social media he said that right now he will take some time off and then move on to build something other than phones or gadgets in a new industry. “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,” Jain wrote in the post.

Jain joined Xiaomi to start the company’s India journey and under his leadership, in a very short span, he built Xiaomi to be the no 1 smartphone brand of the country quarter after quarter. “I joined the Xiaomi Group in 2014 to start its India journey. The first few years were full of ups & downs. We started as a one-person start-up, 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,” Jain wrote in his post. However, as of last quarter, as reported by Canalys, Xiaomi has been topped by Samsung to become the top phone brand in Q4 2022.

After 7.5 years of leading Xiaomi India team, Jain moved to a global role to support the international market. “After building a strong team and business, I wished to help other markets with our learnings. With this intention, I moved abroad -1.5 years ago (in July 2021), and subsequently joined the Xiaomi International team. I am proud of the strong India leadership team that continues to work independently and tirelessly to enable millions of Indians with the latest technology,” he noted.

“These last nine years were truly phenomenal and I will forever cherish the love and support I have received from fans, partners, team members and friends. I am lucky to have experienced something so special that it makes saying this goodbye very hard. I will forever carry a piece of Xiaomi within my heart,” Jain wrote in his post.

Last year, Xiaomi announced Alvin Tse will lead the Indian team. Alvin Tse has been appointed as the general manager of Xiaomi India, while Anuj Sharma rejoined the company as the chief marketing officer. Sharma until the new appointment was heading Poco India as country lead.