Chinese handset maker Xiaomi on Friday announced it was spinning off its aspirational premium sub-brand POCO as a standalone brand, which will now operate independently with its own team and go-to market strategy in the country.
Started as a sub-brand of Xiaomi in 2018, POCO began operations in the country with a small team and launched its POCO F1 smartphone.
“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. We will spin it off as an independent brand,” Manu Jain, Xiaomi Vice President and Xiaomi India Managing Director, said in a statement.