How Xiaomi’s ‘missed opportunity’ may have turned into Realme’s gain – Times of India

Xiaomi India’s poster boy Manu Kumar Jain is leaving the company after a nine-year stint. Jain can undoubtedly be credited for the company’s rise to number one position in the country and also staying numero uno for almost 5 years. Jain became Xiaomi India head in 2014 and was promoted to global VP in 2017. Jain posted a long message on Twitter announcing his resignation from the post and taking some time off before moving ahead with a “new challenge.”
Responding to his message, head and VP of arch rival Realme Madhav Sheth wished him all the very best. In the tweet, Sheth also reminded him of how after facing a ‘rejection’ he went on to become a strong competitor.
“From the day being rejected to be one of your distribution partners to our journey as competitors, it has been phenomenal. All the best @manukumarjain for your journey ahead,” Sheth tweeted, quoting Jain’s tweet announcing the end of his journey at Xiaomi.

To which, Jain replied: “Whoops! Looks like we missed out on a great opportunity. Thank you for applying to become a distribution partner and thank you so much for your wishes. Best of luck to you for the future.”

Xiaomi-Realme rivalry
Incidentally, Xiaomi and Realme have had a frosty relationship. When Xiaomi was thriving in the Indian smartphone market, Realme came in as a direct competitor. In one such incident, top executives of both the brands exchanged barbs on social media and the ‘copy-cat’ episode became infamous.

The rivalry between the two bosses apparently started in May 2019 when Jain took to Twitter and displayed unhappiness against Realme’s marketing strategy. In January 2020, Jain, who was then serving as Xiaomi vice president and Xiaomi India managing director, blamed Realme for being a “copy-cat brand.”
To this, Sheth tweeted, “A real innovative brand and market leader won’t behave like that. Basic dignity and ethics should be maintained no matter how insecure you are of your competitor’s growth.” These episodes came to an end during the pandemic.

Recently, a report by Counterpoint Research said that Realme slipped to fourth place in 2022, with a 14% YoY decline due to higher exposure to the sub-Rs 10,000 segment. Xiaomi, despite slipping to third place in Q4 2022, held the top spot in India’s smartphone shipment list in 2022 with a 24% YoY decline.