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With the POCOphone F2 around the corner, POCO lead leaves Xiaomi
We still haven’t heard a word of official information about the supposedly-upcoming Xiaomi POCOphone F2, the follow-up to last year’s bonafide hit, the Pocophone F1. Today though, we did get a piece of somewhat-related news: Jai Mani, the head of product at POCO, has left Xiaomi (via Android Central).
Mani had been with Xiaomi for almost five years, starting with Xiaomi India in 2014. By 2018, he was leading the brand new sub-brand POCO, which launched the POCOphone F1 seemingly out of nowhere. The device took the smartphone industry by storm since it offered high-end specs for a crazy low price of $300.
According to Mani, POCO was able to leverage the vast infrastructure of Xiaomi to keep the POCOphone F1’s price so low.
Mani’s departure comes at a critical time for POCO. The POCOphone F2 is speculated to launch sometime in August (the F1 launched on August 22 last year), so an internal shakeup such as this happening now is probably not the best of news.
It’s not clear where Mani is headed now that he’s left Xiaomi. His Twitter bio says that he is interested in “healthcare + technology, especially mental health.” He then says his “DMs are open,” which suggests Mani might not have a job at the moment.
We’ve reached out to both Xiaomi and Jai Mani for statements on this news, but neither responded before press time.
What do you think? Could Mani’s departure have an effect on the launch of the POCOphone F2? Or are you sure Xiaomi will launch the device as we expect? Let us know in the comments!