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In January, the Xiaomi India MD Manu Kumar Jain tweeted that Poco would separate from the Xiaomi family to become an independent brand. Originally seen as a sub-brand within Xiaomi, Poco has just announced that it is now an independent brand, fresh off the launch of its new entry-level Poco M3.
In the statement, Poco spoke about the 35 global markets in which they currently have a presence, along with a total number of six million Poco brand phones sold in the global market. The company is also looking to continue its assault on the “flagship” market, as well as the mid-range and entry-level markets, as evidenced by the current line of Poco F2 Pro, Poco X3 and the newly launched Poco M3. .
How will this affect users?
So what does this mean for users? As we mentioned above, a similar announcement was made in January 2020, before the company launched a number of new smartphones that they were not Xiaomi phones simply rebranded. The new Poco M3, for example, appears to be an original product from the company, while the mid-range Poco X3 NFC does not appear to be a rebranded Mi phone either.
Does this mean we’ve seen the end of the Mi phones rebranded under the Poco brand? Maybe. Or maybe not.
In early 2019, Redmi announced similar news that it would operate as an “independent brand”, although one of the reasons given for the move was “to accelerate the progress of Xiaomi’s global expansion.” However, in the (almost) two years since then, nothing seems to be drastically different, at least from a consumer point of view, beyond a new Redmi badge on the back of their phones.
Also, Poco phones are still sold in Malaysia through Xiaomi dealers and online channels. For example, official games are sold at Shopee and Lazada, and you even get original Xiaomi chargers out of the box.
Would this change in the future, now that the brand operates independently? I’m not sure about that – one of the main benefits of the sub-brand operating model is the ability to share Xiaomi’s considerable resources such as dealer networks and accessories. With Poco’s obvious value-for-money strategy, narrow margins certainly matter.
Also, there is the MIUI problem. As suggested by a commenter (@Jason saw), another big question is: what will happen to MIUI? If Poco really works independently, they may have to come up with an OxygenOS-style alternative to MIUI, which might not be so bad for Xiaomi’s Android skin naysayers.
Of course, we could start to see the brand expand beyond smartphones. They didn’t mention anything, but with the growing popularity of AIoT products, like TWS earbuds and smart watches, it would seem like a logical move.
For now, we will have to wait and see. How do you think Poco’s “independence” will affect you? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Editor’s note: This article has been modified to include information about MIUI.
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