11 ms·

Xiaomi's global vice president Hugo Barra is leaving the company

124 points by kshatrea 10y ago

shaqbert 10y ago
Xiaomi turns out to not have a big moat. And run on extremely thin margins. Top line growth has been flat. And the writing on the wall is that we might be seeing revenue contraction ahead. I wonder what their private market valuation is doing?
- bostand 10y ago
  As owner of one of their excellent products, I couldn't care less about their private valuation. (btw, mi is owned by their employees)
  - seanmcdirmid 10y ago
    Xiaomi has VC funding.
  - Laforet 10y ago
    They are obviously concerned about long term viability of their core cellphone business, enough that they are diversifying into a massive range of products from alkaline batteries[0] to reverse osmosis water purifiers[0]. Some of their offerings, such as wifi routers and rice cookers (yes, Xiaomi make rice cookers[2] that send notifications to your phone when your meal is ready) are mildly successful while others are received with either apathy or outright animosity such as their drones which crashed during a livestreamed demo flight. And nobody wants to buy their laptop computer for sure. [0]:http://list.mi.com/14 http://list.mi.com/14 [1]:http://www.mi.com/water/ http://www.mi.com/water/ [2]:http://www.mi.com/dianfanbao/ http://www.mi.com/dianfanbao/
- kitschshrine 10y ago
  their private valuation is probably somewhere around 4 to 6B now
- gumby 10y ago
  Was going to make the same comment; I assume he figures this is a good time to move to the next thing. I was at a party Saturday, talking to a friend who sells to phone manufacturers. I asked him about Xiaomi. He said, "yeah, they're a customer but not growing. We're spending our efforts on the big revenue opportunities which are <two companies I'd never heard of>". He wasn't dismissive, just not that interested. A shame.
  - rasz_pl 10y ago
    Is your friend a Chinese living in China? Because Xiaomi is working hard on being 100% in house (house being country) so them not buying from foreign suppliers is nothing weird.
    - gumby 10y ago
      He is, and Xiomi is (he said) a customer. He's in sales and just didn't expect as much revenue from Xaoimi as some of the other up and coming vendors. Sorry I don't remember the names but he raved about the styling and build quality of one. Usual disclaimers: single data point / anecdote; I've known him for 15 years or so.
fowlerpower 10y ago
Xiaomi strikes me as one of the very few Chinese gadget companies I would buy from. Their phones always look polished and their specs are always fantastic for the dollar spent. I have no idea about their quality but some day I will take the plunge and buy.
- aembleton 10y ago
  Try out the piston earphones. For ~£5 you can't go too wrong. I'm really happy with them.
  - andrewvijay 10y ago
    Same here. Good one
  - josu 10y ago
    Their hybrid IEMs are the best sub-$20 earphones I have ever bought. They are easily on par with earphones in the $50-$100 range. Head-fi: http://www.head-fi.org/t/786589/xiaomi-hybrid-iem-thread-piston-successor http://www.head-fi.org/t/786589/xiaomi-hybrid-iem-thread-pis... Xiaomi: http://www.mi.com/quantie/ http://www.mi.com/quantie/
- rubber_duck 10y ago
  >I have no idea about their quality Got Redmi Note 3 Pro a while back from China. Came unlocked (+) but rom was adware probably installed by seller (-) - installed CM immediately and it was trivial (it did require a PC and a few CLI commands so for end users this might not be as trivial). So about the phone - the reason I got it is because it seemed like a smartphone that had everything I needed (browsing/4g/streaming) at a price point where I wouldn't care if I lost it or it broke down (~150€ with VAT after imports). The screen is great, touch accuracy is very good which was my main problem with cheap chinese phones before. Battery life is OK, lasts me a day with 4G and WiFi on and a few hours of active use. One problem that was specific to my device I guess is that the notification LED is stuck in red - it blinks in other colors when I get notifications, etc. but it's always red (and this was before I installed CM). Maybe pulling the battery out and returning it would fix it but that seemed involved and I don't care enough it doesn't bother me anymore. Camera is mediocre, it will snap pictures when I need to share something practical (like sending a picture of a document that arrived or a package or stuff like that), but it's not something I would for taking photos - but I don't do that anyway so it doesn't matter to me. Fingerprint sensor works fine. It doesn't look cheap. Overall great value for money, unless you need a phone for taking photos I don't see why you would pay more for an android phone as an average user.
DemiGuru 10y ago
I might be too sentimental (knowing that it's PR speak and therefore downplayed) the last paragraph strikes me as sheer hell. "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,"
- mikekchar 10y ago
  Was he in China? Culture shock can be quite devastating. And you might think that after 3 1/2 years that you get used to your new environment, but it can actually get progressively worse. I was pretty lucky that when I moved to Japan I instantly felt at home. I've seen people pretty much melt down from the stress of having all their values brought into question and everything that they thought was common sense thrown out of the window. Even when you have a good gig and you love what you are doing, it can be impossible to continue. The worst bit is that it can actually be harder to return because without knowing it, you can change. And everything your remember about home is a little different. I remember the first time I went abroad, when I returned I felt that I lost my home. It took me years to find a new one.
  - sho_hn 10y ago
    This rings true. I'm a German living in Korea, and there's a fair number of Western foreigners here who eventually grow restless and unhappy, or even embittered. It's usually the people who came for economic reasons, without strong interest in or ties to Korean culture - they have no positives to be able to offset the sometimes very real negatives, and it slowly whittles them away. It's not smart to move somewhere if you don't have a couple of sure-fire things you know you will get joy out of on a consistent basis at the destination.
    - da02 10y ago
      What brought you to Korea? Did you learn some of the Korean language before moving?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
geodel 10y ago
I have noticed this is common pattern for Sr execs placed in Indian subsidiary by parent US companies. Mostly people of Indian origin go to India for few years, fulfill their yearning for homeland, parents, friends etc and then come back to US when a new opportunity shows up. In this case, Hugo is not even of chinese origin so it must be specially hard for him.
baybal2 10y ago
Trophy white C-level ran away
- kitschshrine 10y ago
  he's trying to not die 15-20 years earlier due to the cancerous air/food/water in China
  - seanmcdirmid 10y ago
    Even Kaiser Kuo left, the list of notable foreigners shrinks every month. But the Chinese talent for cleaner that is leaving is much more significant.
- sctb 10y ago
  We've already asked you to please post civilly and substantively or not at all. We have to ban accounts that won't do this.
  - baybal2 10y ago
    You dont understand an ironic joke here
bluetwo 10y ago
Sure, maybe what he said is true. Or maybe the food/water/pollution issues are what drove him away. But, more often this kind of departure is a prelude to either more departures, accounting issues, or the sudden public disclosure of previously hidden away infighting in the executive suites.
dotBen 10y ago
I wonder if he's been poached to work on Andy Rubin's new high-end Android handset startup. Timing and his background would seem to align...
- jedc 10y ago
  That's the exact same thing I thought as soon as I saw the headline.
eklavya 10y ago
One thing fundamentally broken on xiaomi phones is GCM. So if you are not whatsapp or Facebook (they have pre configured exceptions) and you need push notifications, you have no options. You can't even have a persistent connection because your app is killed whenever. The user needs to specifically turn off restrictions for your app which do not persist across updates. Users don't really understand all that so your app is "broken" for them.
- boundlessdreamz 10y ago
  Whatsapp didn't have preconfigured exception in the Redmi phone I bought in 2016 in India running official MIUI. It was infuriating as I had no idea that MIUI kills apps and you need to except apps from that
iamnew 10y ago
Good share.

124 points by kshatrea 10y ago

Xiaomi turns out to not have a big moat. And run on extremely thin margins. Top line growth has been flat. And the writing on the wall is that we might be seeing revenue contraction ahead. I wonder what their private market valuation is doing?

bostand 10y ago
As owner of one of their excellent products, I couldn't care less about their private valuation. (btw, mi is owned by their employees)
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  Xiaomi has VC funding.
- Laforet 10y ago
  They are obviously concerned about long term viability of their core cellphone business, enough that they are diversifying into a massive range of products from alkaline batteries[0] to reverse osmosis water purifiers[0]. Some of their offerings, such as wifi routers and rice cookers (yes, Xiaomi make rice cookers[2] that send notifications to your phone when your meal is ready) are mildly successful while others are received with either apathy or outright animosity such as their drones which crashed during a livestreamed demo flight. And nobody wants to buy their laptop computer for sure. [0]:http://list.mi.com/14 http://list.mi.com/14 [1]:http://www.mi.com/water/ http://www.mi.com/water/ [2]:http://www.mi.com/dianfanbao/ http://www.mi.com/dianfanbao/
kitschshrine 10y ago
their private valuation is probably somewhere around 4 to 6B now
gumby 10y ago
Was going to make the same comment; I assume he figures this is a good time to move to the next thing. I was at a party Saturday, talking to a friend who sells to phone manufacturers. I asked him about Xiaomi. He said, "yeah, they're a customer but not growing. We're spending our efforts on the big revenue opportunities which are <two companies I'd never heard of>". He wasn't dismissive, just not that interested. A shame.
- rasz_pl 10y ago
  Is your friend a Chinese living in China? Because Xiaomi is working hard on being 100% in house (house being country) so them not buying from foreign suppliers is nothing weird.
  - gumby 10y ago
    He is, and Xiomi is (he said) a customer. He's in sales and just didn't expect as much revenue from Xaoimi as some of the other up and coming vendors. Sorry I don't remember the names but he raved about the styling and build quality of one. Usual disclaimers: single data point / anecdote; I've known him for 15 years or so.

fowlerpower 10y ago

Xiaomi strikes me as one of the very few Chinese gadget companies I would buy from. Their phones always look polished and their specs are always fantastic for the dollar spent. I have no idea about their quality but some day I will take the plunge and buy.

aembleton 10y ago
Try out the piston earphones. For ~£5 you can't go too wrong. I'm really happy with them.
- andrewvijay 10y ago
  Same here. Good one
- josu 10y ago
  Their hybrid IEMs are the best sub-$20 earphones I have ever bought. They are easily on par with earphones in the $50-$100 range. Head-fi: http://www.head-fi.org/t/786589/xiaomi-hybrid-iem-thread-piston-successor http://www.head-fi.org/t/786589/xiaomi-hybrid-iem-thread-pis... Xiaomi: http://www.mi.com/quantie/ http://www.mi.com/quantie/
rubber_duck 10y ago
>I have no idea about their quality Got Redmi Note 3 Pro a while back from China. Came unlocked (+) but rom was adware probably installed by seller (-) - installed CM immediately and it was trivial (it did require a PC and a few CLI commands so for end users this might not be as trivial). So about the phone - the reason I got it is because it seemed like a smartphone that had everything I needed (browsing/4g/streaming) at a price point where I wouldn't care if I lost it or it broke down (~150€ with VAT after imports). The screen is great, touch accuracy is very good which was my main problem with cheap chinese phones before. Battery life is OK, lasts me a day with 4G and WiFi on and a few hours of active use. One problem that was specific to my device I guess is that the notification LED is stuck in red - it blinks in other colors when I get notifications, etc. but it's always red (and this was before I installed CM). Maybe pulling the battery out and returning it would fix it but that seemed involved and I don't care enough it doesn't bother me anymore. Camera is mediocre, it will snap pictures when I need to share something practical (like sending a picture of a document that arrived or a package or stuff like that), but it's not something I would for taking photos - but I don't do that anyway so it doesn't matter to me. Fingerprint sensor works fine. It doesn't look cheap. Overall great value for money, unless you need a phone for taking photos I don't see why you would pay more for an android phone as an average user.

DemiGuru 10y ago

I might be too sentimental (knowing that it's PR speak and therefore downplayed) the last paragraph strikes me as sheer hell. "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,"

mikekchar 10y ago
Was he in China? Culture shock can be quite devastating. And you might think that after 3 1/2 years that you get used to your new environment, but it can actually get progressively worse. I was pretty lucky that when I moved to Japan I instantly felt at home. I've seen people pretty much melt down from the stress of having all their values brought into question and everything that they thought was common sense thrown out of the window. Even when you have a good gig and you love what you are doing, it can be impossible to continue. The worst bit is that it can actually be harder to return because without knowing it, you can change. And everything your remember about home is a little different. I remember the first time I went abroad, when I returned I felt that I lost my home. It took me years to find a new one.
- sho_hn 10y ago
  This rings true. I'm a German living in Korea, and there's a fair number of Western foreigners here who eventually grow restless and unhappy, or even embittered. It's usually the people who came for economic reasons, without strong interest in or ties to Korean culture - they have no positives to be able to offset the sometimes very real negatives, and it slowly whittles them away. It's not smart to move somewhere if you don't have a couple of sure-fire things you know you will get joy out of on a consistent basis at the destination.
  - da02 10y ago
    What brought you to Korea? Did you learn some of the Korean language before moving?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

geodel 10y ago

I have noticed this is common pattern for Sr execs placed in Indian subsidiary by parent US companies. Mostly people of Indian origin go to India for few years, fulfill their yearning for homeland, parents, friends etc and then come back to US when a new opportunity shows up. In this case, Hugo is not even of chinese origin so it must be specially hard for him.

baybal2 10y ago

Trophy white C-level ran away

kitschshrine 10y ago
he's trying to not die 15-20 years earlier due to the cancerous air/food/water in China
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  Even Kaiser Kuo left, the list of notable foreigners shrinks every month. But the Chinese talent for cleaner that is leaving is much more significant.
sctb 10y ago
We've already asked you to please post civilly and substantively or not at all. We have to ban accounts that won't do this.
- baybal2 10y ago
  You dont understand an ironic joke here

bluetwo 10y ago

Sure, maybe what he said is true. Or maybe the food/water/pollution issues are what drove him away. But, more often this kind of departure is a prelude to either more departures, accounting issues, or the sudden public disclosure of previously hidden away infighting in the executive suites.

dotBen 10y ago

I wonder if he's been poached to work on Andy Rubin's new high-end Android handset startup. Timing and his background would seem to align...

jedc 10y ago
That's the exact same thing I thought as soon as I saw the headline.

eklavya 10y ago

One thing fundamentally broken on xiaomi phones is GCM. So if you are not whatsapp or Facebook (they have pre configured exceptions) and you need push notifications, you have no options. You can't even have a persistent connection because your app is killed whenever. The user needs to specifically turn off restrictions for your app which do not persist across updates. Users don't really understand all that so your app is "broken" for them.

boundlessdreamz 10y ago
Whatsapp didn't have preconfigured exception in the Redmi phone I bought in 2016 in India running official MIUI. It was infuriating as I had no idea that MIUI kills apps and you need to except apps from that

iamnew 10y ago

Good share.