Xiaomi Chief Steps Down As President Of China

Xiaomi co-founder and chairman Lei Jun stepped down as the company’s president for China, part of a broader reshuffle announced swiftly after the vendor revealed a drop in domestic smartphone sales in Q3.

In a letter to staff, the vendor named Redmi GM Lu Weibing as the new China presient, adding to his current role. Wang Xiang, SVP and head of the global business department, was promoted to company president, taking over from Lin Bin, who was appointed vice chairman.

Lin is also president of the smartphone department.

In a statement, the company said Wang will be responsible for its administrative platform and will assist Lei in taking charge of the group’s operations. Lei will continue to serve as chairman.

Chew Shou Zi, SVP and CFO, replaces Wang as head of international business. Chew will continue as CFO until a replacement is found.

In addition, He Yong was promoted to VP of government affairs, administrative affairs and the regional management department.

China is the company’s largest market, but weak domestic demand saw shipments fall 33 per cent year-on-year in Q3, pulling its market share from 13.1 per cent in Q3 2018 to 9 per cent.

During the recent quarter its net profit increased 1.6 per cent to CNY2.5 billion ($355 million) and total revenue rose 5.5 per cent to a record CNY53.7 billion.

Canalys ranked the vendor fourth in the global smartphone market during the period.―Mobile World Live