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China-based smartphone maker Xiaomi once again made a stir in the technological field in China， and the shockwave even extended to the world. This is not because that this company launched another type of smartphone with stunning low price or said perfect functions. Instead， it was a man who made Xiaomi known to the world.
This man is Hugo Barra， former vice president of Google and the vice president of Android. On August 29， he said through Facebook that he would join in Xiaomi. Lei Jun， CEO of Xiaomi， also said through his Microblog excitedly that Hugo Barra is going to join in Xiaomi at the beginning of October and take charge of Xiaomi’s overseas expansion.
It is said that Hugo Barra’s position in Google is the like Kaifu Lee， former president of Google Greater China. However， jumping from a high-ranking position of a well-established Internet giant to a Chinese company with three years’ history of operation， it seems to be quite a fall. Therefore， outsiders are confused with Hugo Barra’s choice. Analysts say that more irrational reasons lie behind this transfer had the two companies not worked with each other.
AllThingsD even reports that Barra was in a relationship with a female employee in Google， but the girl recently began to date Sergey Brin， the founder of Google. Being a rival in love with his boss， Hugo Barra chose to leave.
Barra did not respond to the report， but Xiaomi denied its authenticity. Lin Bin， Xiaomi’s co-founder and president says that Barra joined in Xiaomi not for the love triangle or the sudden inspiration. He says that he has known Barra for years and the former senior executive of Google knows Xiaomi’s system very well. Xiaomi has extended its invitations to him sincerely several times. And the joining of this time was a result of the sincere invitation of Lei Jun and Lin Bin， as well as Barra’s careful consideration.
The Great Potential of Xiaomi
According to Bloomberg， Xiaomi is still not a famous brand in China， but its founder and CEO Lei Jun is a man with a certain reputation among investors， including Qiming Venture Partners and Temasek Holdings.
Lei Jun has a glorious history in the IT business. He founded Joy Network， one of the first ecommerce websites in China. In 2004， he sold Joy to Amazon， which turned it into Amazon’s Chinese website. In addition， he is also the founder and board chairman of Jinshan Software and Huanju Era， a software company listed in Nasdaq and having the famous voice talk app YY. Recently， Xiaomi just finished a new round of fundraising. Now company’s market value is estimated to reach US$10 billion. Lei Jun said in June that the sales volume of smartphones of Xiaomi is going to exceed 15 million units in 2013， two times more than that of last year. Meanwhile， Xiaomi also rides the increasing demand for the low-price smartphones in the world. Nowadays， the local brands have taken over 70% of the smart phone market in China， much higher than the 28% market share two years ago.
Mark Li at Sandford C. Bernstein’s Hong Kong branch， says that smartphones only take 27% of the Chinese mobile phone market. Therefore， the market in this country still owns unlimited potential. In his opinion， the sales volume of smartphones in China is likely to increase by 50% to 60% this year and the increase is going to be maintained at 20% from 2013 to 2016.
Barra is definitely attracted by the potential of the market. But whether he can help Xiaomi make a stir in the emerging market remains unknown. Though Xiaomi has already had a high market value and received enough attention from the public， the company is still far away from a big company.
A report from IDC revealed that Xiaomi’s market share in China’s smartphone market in China was only 4% in the second quarter of 2013， slightly higher than last year’s 3%. However， compared with the 18.3% market share of Samsung and 12.6% share of Lenovo， such a figure is not worth mentioning at all. Even Coolpad， ZTE， Huangwei and Tienyu – all are domestic brands – had higher market share than Xiaomi. Apple did not perform very well in China recently， but it’s market share was still higher than Xiaomi.
The Longtime Friendship
Then why did Lin Bin and Lei Jun send invitations to Hugo Barra several times？ His profile shows that he climbed up through the ranks of Google quickly. From September 2008 to November 2009， he was the general manager of Google’s mobile products. From November 2009 to December 2010， he worked as the managing director of Google’s mobile products. Then he was appointed as the product manager of Google Android and stayed in this position for another year before being given the position as the vice president of Google Android.
Barra is a typical tech-savvy executive. His working experiences in Google covered the mobile search， digital map， voice search， vertical search， mobile ads， Android 4.0 and so on. He is also a master of languages as he can speak English， Portugal， French and Spainish.
The friendship between Barra and Lin Bin started years ago. Before joining hands with Lei Jun to start Xiaomi， Lin Bin was actually a colleague， or a superior of Barra. He joined in Google in 2006 and once worked as the Vice Dean of Google China’s Engineering Academy， Project Director and Google’s Global Technology Director. He was in charge of the teambuilding and project development of Google’s mobile search in China. He also worked as the spokesman for Android in China. The years’ acknowledgement with each other blended into their good friendship. Google has three mobile technology R&D institutions in the world， which are respectively located in the United States， Great Britain and Beijing. In 2008， Lin Bin was working in Beijing while Barra mainly spent his working hours in the UK， but the frequent connections with the three R&D institutions kept them in close contact， through which they formed great friendship.
According to Lin Bin， he used to provide some essential support for Barra’s projects. They also worked closely on some projects. When Lin Bin decided to leave Google， Barra asked him about his future plan. He replied that he wanted to start his own business in China but did not reveal too many details.
The careers of these two people crossed with each other again in 2011， when Li Bin for the first time told Barra about how Xiaomi marketed its smartphones via ecommerce. According to Lin， Barra was quite impressed at that time because Google was making smartphones too but always failed to have a mark in the ecommerce field. In addition， Xiaomi’s MIUI system was heavily based on Android， which was right under Barra’s management.
In the past few years， Barra saw the development of Xiaomi and witnessed the company’s market value increase from US$200 million to US$10 billion. He was amazed by the sales volume of 7 million units Xiaomi made last year and the goal of selling 20 million smart phones this year. Even though he was the vice president of Google， he still cared about the compatibility of Xiaomi with Android.
Lin Bin and Barra keep contacting with each other through the email. Lin says that Hugo Barra is the senior executive of a multinational that knows the best of Xiaomi.
Of course， Google itself has the reason to cause Barra’s leaving， more than the unconfirmed love triangle. Previously， Andy Rubin， who is dubbed as “Father of Android”， was left vacuum with his authority as Sundar Pichai， President of Chrome took over the Android business. The former Android business structure was thus affected. However， such a comment has not been officially confirmed yet.
Hugo Barra himself says that his decision to join in Xiaomi is an inspiration of extending the Android system. “I am ready to meet any challenges，” he announced.
Lin Bin is a talent-finder for Xiaomi. In addition to Hugo Barra， he also helped Lei Jun recruit many tech and management talents from Google and Microsoft. For example， Zhang Hongji- ang， the present CEO of Jinshan Software， joined in Lei Jun’s company from Microsoft upon Lin Bin’s recommendation. Xiaomi’s Faster Overseas Expansion
The recruitment of Hugo Barra， who is almost considered the “spokesman” for Android， doubtlessly greatly improved the brand image of Xiaomi and its MiPhone. As some analysts point out， Xiaomi is going to make use of his professional profile to establish a bridge to the overseas market. Meanwhile， the presence of Barra will improve and enhance the connection between Xiaomi and Google’s Android department.
Some analysts even point out that Barra’s joining is the prequel to the further cooperation between Google and Xiaomi to form a commonwealth for a greater share in China’s smartphone market.
However， as Lei Jun and Lin Bin have revealed， Xiaomi recruited Hugo Barra mainly for its goal of overseas expansion. In the 2013 Internet Forum Lei Jun said that Xiaomi’s sales volume reached RMB 13 billion in the first half of 2013 and is likely to realize the whole year’s sales volume of RMB 26-28 billion smart phones. It is expected to have the revenue of RMB 100 billion in 2015.
Lei Jun says that Xiaomi’s business pattern could only be understood when the sales amount of Xiaomi reaches RMB 100 billion. It is an unprecedented achievement for a 5-6-year-old company to realize the sales of RMB 100 billion.
For Xiaomi， profits are important， but building an ecological system is much more important. Google is considered to be a good partner in this case. Thus it is important to have some people both knowing the Android and overseas market.
The overseas expansion is considered to be a good method to assist in the fast sales. Presently Xiaomi’s smartphones have already reached Taiwan and Hong Kong. The company also established a representative office in Taiwan， responsible for the sales and customer service.
An analyst says that Hong Kong and Taiwan are just first destinations of Xiaomi’s overseas expansion. It has won reputation in these two areas and next it will set foot in more international markets. It is said that Xiaomi is going to march into Southeast Asia and Latin America， while Hugo Barra， a Brazilian， is definitely of great assistance in this matter.
“Barra is very familiar with the rules of Android in the overseas market. If Xiaomi wants to succeed in the overseas market， the software service is a very important link. MIUI needs to be more compatible with Android-based apps. Barra can provide precious experiences for Xiaomi to wipe out the hurdles in overseas expansion，” says Lin Bin.
This man is Hugo Barra， former vice president of Google and the vice president of Android. On August 29， he said through Facebook that he would join in Xiaomi. Lei Jun， CEO of Xiaomi， also said through his Microblog excitedly that Hugo Barra is going to join in Xiaomi at the beginning of October and take charge of Xiaomi’s overseas expansion.
It is said that Hugo Barra’s position in Google is the like Kaifu Lee， former president of Google Greater China. However， jumping from a high-ranking position of a well-established Internet giant to a Chinese company with three years’ history of operation， it seems to be quite a fall. Therefore， outsiders are confused with Hugo Barra’s choice. Analysts say that more irrational reasons lie behind this transfer had the two companies not worked with each other.
AllThingsD even reports that Barra was in a relationship with a female employee in Google， but the girl recently began to date Sergey Brin， the founder of Google. Being a rival in love with his boss， Hugo Barra chose to leave.
Barra did not respond to the report， but Xiaomi denied its authenticity. Lin Bin， Xiaomi’s co-founder and president says that Barra joined in Xiaomi not for the love triangle or the sudden inspiration. He says that he has known Barra for years and the former senior executive of Google knows Xiaomi’s system very well. Xiaomi has extended its invitations to him sincerely several times. And the joining of this time was a result of the sincere invitation of Lei Jun and Lin Bin， as well as Barra’s careful consideration.
The Great Potential of Xiaomi
According to Bloomberg， Xiaomi is still not a famous brand in China， but its founder and CEO Lei Jun is a man with a certain reputation among investors， including Qiming Venture Partners and Temasek Holdings.
Lei Jun has a glorious history in the IT business. He founded Joy Network， one of the first ecommerce websites in China. In 2004， he sold Joy to Amazon， which turned it into Amazon’s Chinese website. In addition， he is also the founder and board chairman of Jinshan Software and Huanju Era， a software company listed in Nasdaq and having the famous voice talk app YY. Recently， Xiaomi just finished a new round of fundraising. Now company’s market value is estimated to reach US$10 billion. Lei Jun said in June that the sales volume of smartphones of Xiaomi is going to exceed 15 million units in 2013， two times more than that of last year. Meanwhile， Xiaomi also rides the increasing demand for the low-price smartphones in the world. Nowadays， the local brands have taken over 70% of the smart phone market in China， much higher than the 28% market share two years ago.
Mark Li at Sandford C. Bernstein’s Hong Kong branch， says that smartphones only take 27% of the Chinese mobile phone market. Therefore， the market in this country still owns unlimited potential. In his opinion， the sales volume of smartphones in China is likely to increase by 50% to 60% this year and the increase is going to be maintained at 20% from 2013 to 2016.
Barra is definitely attracted by the potential of the market. But whether he can help Xiaomi make a stir in the emerging market remains unknown. Though Xiaomi has already had a high market value and received enough attention from the public， the company is still far away from a big company.
A report from IDC revealed that Xiaomi’s market share in China’s smartphone market in China was only 4% in the second quarter of 2013， slightly higher than last year’s 3%. However， compared with the 18.3% market share of Samsung and 12.6% share of Lenovo， such a figure is not worth mentioning at all. Even Coolpad， ZTE， Huangwei and Tienyu – all are domestic brands – had higher market share than Xiaomi. Apple did not perform very well in China recently， but it’s market share was still higher than Xiaomi.
The Longtime Friendship
Then why did Lin Bin and Lei Jun send invitations to Hugo Barra several times？ His profile shows that he climbed up through the ranks of Google quickly. From September 2008 to November 2009， he was the general manager of Google’s mobile products. From November 2009 to December 2010， he worked as the managing director of Google’s mobile products. Then he was appointed as the product manager of Google Android and stayed in this position for another year before being given the position as the vice president of Google Android.
Barra is a typical tech-savvy executive. His working experiences in Google covered the mobile search， digital map， voice search， vertical search， mobile ads， Android 4.0 and so on. He is also a master of languages as he can speak English， Portugal， French and Spainish.
The friendship between Barra and Lin Bin started years ago. Before joining hands with Lei Jun to start Xiaomi， Lin Bin was actually a colleague， or a superior of Barra. He joined in Google in 2006 and once worked as the Vice Dean of Google China’s Engineering Academy， Project Director and Google’s Global Technology Director. He was in charge of the teambuilding and project development of Google’s mobile search in China. He also worked as the spokesman for Android in China. The years’ acknowledgement with each other blended into their good friendship. Google has three mobile technology R&D institutions in the world， which are respectively located in the United States， Great Britain and Beijing. In 2008， Lin Bin was working in Beijing while Barra mainly spent his working hours in the UK， but the frequent connections with the three R&D institutions kept them in close contact， through which they formed great friendship.
According to Lin Bin， he used to provide some essential support for Barra’s projects. They also worked closely on some projects. When Lin Bin decided to leave Google， Barra asked him about his future plan. He replied that he wanted to start his own business in China but did not reveal too many details.
The careers of these two people crossed with each other again in 2011， when Li Bin for the first time told Barra about how Xiaomi marketed its smartphones via ecommerce. According to Lin， Barra was quite impressed at that time because Google was making smartphones too but always failed to have a mark in the ecommerce field. In addition， Xiaomi’s MIUI system was heavily based on Android， which was right under Barra’s management.
In the past few years， Barra saw the development of Xiaomi and witnessed the company’s market value increase from US$200 million to US$10 billion. He was amazed by the sales volume of 7 million units Xiaomi made last year and the goal of selling 20 million smart phones this year. Even though he was the vice president of Google， he still cared about the compatibility of Xiaomi with Android.
Lin Bin and Barra keep contacting with each other through the email. Lin says that Hugo Barra is the senior executive of a multinational that knows the best of Xiaomi.
Of course， Google itself has the reason to cause Barra’s leaving， more than the unconfirmed love triangle. Previously， Andy Rubin， who is dubbed as “Father of Android”， was left vacuum with his authority as Sundar Pichai， President of Chrome took over the Android business. The former Android business structure was thus affected. However， such a comment has not been officially confirmed yet.
Hugo Barra himself says that his decision to join in Xiaomi is an inspiration of extending the Android system. “I am ready to meet any challenges，” he announced.
Lin Bin is a talent-finder for Xiaomi. In addition to Hugo Barra， he also helped Lei Jun recruit many tech and management talents from Google and Microsoft. For example， Zhang Hongji- ang， the present CEO of Jinshan Software， joined in Lei Jun’s company from Microsoft upon Lin Bin’s recommendation. Xiaomi’s Faster Overseas Expansion
The recruitment of Hugo Barra， who is almost considered the “spokesman” for Android， doubtlessly greatly improved the brand image of Xiaomi and its MiPhone. As some analysts point out， Xiaomi is going to make use of his professional profile to establish a bridge to the overseas market. Meanwhile， the presence of Barra will improve and enhance the connection between Xiaomi and Google’s Android department.
Some analysts even point out that Barra’s joining is the prequel to the further cooperation between Google and Xiaomi to form a commonwealth for a greater share in China’s smartphone market.
However， as Lei Jun and Lin Bin have revealed， Xiaomi recruited Hugo Barra mainly for its goal of overseas expansion. In the 2013 Internet Forum Lei Jun said that Xiaomi’s sales volume reached RMB 13 billion in the first half of 2013 and is likely to realize the whole year’s sales volume of RMB 26-28 billion smart phones. It is expected to have the revenue of RMB 100 billion in 2015.
Lei Jun says that Xiaomi’s business pattern could only be understood when the sales amount of Xiaomi reaches RMB 100 billion. It is an unprecedented achievement for a 5-6-year-old company to realize the sales of RMB 100 billion.
For Xiaomi， profits are important， but building an ecological system is much more important. Google is considered to be a good partner in this case. Thus it is important to have some people both knowing the Android and overseas market.
The overseas expansion is considered to be a good method to assist in the fast sales. Presently Xiaomi’s smartphones have already reached Taiwan and Hong Kong. The company also established a representative office in Taiwan， responsible for the sales and customer service.
An analyst says that Hong Kong and Taiwan are just first destinations of Xiaomi’s overseas expansion. It has won reputation in these two areas and next it will set foot in more international markets. It is said that Xiaomi is going to march into Southeast Asia and Latin America， while Hugo Barra， a Brazilian， is definitely of great assistance in this matter.
“Barra is very familiar with the rules of Android in the overseas market. If Xiaomi wants to succeed in the overseas market， the software service is a very important link. MIUI needs to be more compatible with Android-based apps. Barra can provide precious experiences for Xiaomi to wipe out the hurdles in overseas expansion，” says Lin Bin.