Xiaomi India names Alvin Tse new head

BENGALURU: The Indian unit of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp has appointed founding member Alvin Tse as its general manager, it said on Friday. This is a change of guard as the company faces government scrutiny over its business practices.

Tse, a British national who was also the former general manager of Xiaomi Indonesia, has helped the company expand into many global markets, Xiaomi India said in a tweet.

Tse is an Stanford University alumnus.

The organisational rejig will also have Anuj Sharma rejoin the company as the chief marketing officer.

Sharma was with Xiaomi between September 2018 to 2020 and then moved to POCO, a sub brand of Xiaomi.

“In his role, Anuj Sharma will spearhead the advancement and execution of the overall brand and marketing strategy. He will play an instrumental role in bolstering Xiaomi’s connect with consumers across the nation,” Xiaomi said.

The development comes nearly two months after India’s federal financial-crime fighting agency summoned former Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain in an investigation on whether the company’s business practices conformed with Indian foreign exchange laws, two people aware of the development had told Reuters.

The Enforcement Directorate also seized $725 million from the company’s local bank accounts after a probe found that the smartphone maker had made illegal remittances to foreign entities by passing them off as royalty payments.

However, an Indian court has put the agency’s decision to seize the amount on hold following a legal challenge by Xiaomi.

In India, Xiaomi has seen its share of the domestic smartphone market surge to 24% in 2021 from 6% in 2016, making it the market leader, according to Counterpoint Research.

ORGANISATIONAL REVAMP WILL ALSO HAVE ANUJ SHARMA REJOIN THE COMPANY AS CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER