Chinese handset maker Xiaomi appoints ex-Googler Jai Mani as lead product manager in India

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has appointed Jai Mani as lead product manager in India. Mani has relocated from San Francisco (US) to the company's office in Bangalore.

Hugo Barra, VP, Xiaomi Global, confirmed the news on social networking site Facebook. "One of the coolest things I could have wished for happened this past week, perfectly timed to my first 'Asiaversary'. Jai Mani has just joined the Mi India team as our lead product manager," he wrote in a Facebook post.

Post his relocation, Mani has already co-hosted a Mi fan meet-up with Rohit Ghalsasi, assistant product operations manager at Xiaomi India.

Prior to Xiaomi, Mani was working as a Google Play strategy and analytics associate at search giant Google. He left the company in November last year. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mani co-founded a startup after his stint at Google; however, further details on the same are not available. He had joined the company back in 2009, prior to which he was an intern at QVT Financial LP. He holds a BBA degree in finance from Emory University- Goizueta Business School (US).

Interestingly, Barra himself is an ex-Googler and was the VP of product management for Android at the company, before departing for Xiaomi in Aug last year.

Earlier this year, Manu Kumar Jain, the co-founder and former managing director of Rocket Internet-incubated lifestyle e-tailer Jabong.com had been appointed the general manager (GM) for India at Xiaomi.

After making its debut in the Indian smartphone market with its flagship device Mi3, Xiaomi has had an extremely successful run in the country till date. Following an online only flash sales model for selling its devices in the country, the company has seen its product being sold out within seconds not once or twice but each and every time.

In fact, this led to a lot of criticism from frustrated customers who could not get their hands on the smartphones. Barra even apologised on the behalf of the company, stating that Xiaomi completely underestimated the demand in India. In the country, the company has entered into an exclusive partnership with Indian e-commerce major Flipkart.com to offer its devices.

After Mi3 and Redmi 1S, the company is now preparing to launch the Redmi Note smartphone in the Indian market. It will also launch Mi4, its flagship 4G smartphone in India later this year.