Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's Vice President of International, has confirmed that he would be leaving Xiaomi to return to Silicon Valley in February end. Xiaomi Senior Vice President Xiang Wang will take over Barra's responsibilities after his exit.
Barra has expressed his feelings on his Facebook account that he will be soon returning to the Silicon Valley. Barra posted, "What I've realized is that the last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health. My friends, what I consider to be my home and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family. Seeing how much I've left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return."
In 2013, Hugo Barra was hired by Chinese mobile manufacturer, Xiaomi, to serve as Vice President of International. According to Hugo Barra, the reason why Xiaomi approached him four years ago was to help their company in global expansion including the U.S.market.
In his Facebook post, he also added that under his leadership, Xiaomi's business was expanded into Asian markets, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and twenty more other countries including Russia, Mexico and Poland.
In 2016, he helped Xiaomi achieve a historic milestone in the international market by earning $1billion in annual revenue from India. Xiaomi's expansion to other countries shows that the company is in good position to expand more to other regions.
Barra is a Brazilian computer scientist, Technology Executive and Entrepreneur born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Prior joining to Xiaomi, he had worked with Google in 2008 as Group Product Manager for the company's mobile team. Later on in 2010, he moved to Android division and finally in 2012 he was promoted as Vice President.
Barra said that he will be leaving the Xiaomi by end of February next month following the Chinese New Year. it is learned that Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has asked him to remain an advisor to Xiaomi.
In reply to Barra's post on Facebook, Xiaomi co-founder Bin Lin wrote that after the exit of Barra, the Xiaomi Senior Vice President Xiang Wang will be carrying the responsibility of taking Xiaomi's international business ahead, BGR.reported.
Xiang Wang has worked with Qualcomm for 13 years before joining Xiaomi in 2015. He was designated as President of Qualcomm Greater China in the U.S. based chip manufacturing company.
Here is a news report on Hugo Barra's decision on quiting Xiaomi: