Hugo Barra, a prominent global executive at China’s Xiaomi smartphone maker has quit, citing health reasons. In a post on Facebook, Xiaomi’s vice president in charge of global operations said he is leaving the company after three-and-a-half years for a new project based in California’s Silicon Valley.Xiaomi, briefly valued at US$45 billion, has grappled
with slowing smartphone sales and last year fell out of the top five list of
Chinese smartphone vendors.
“The last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a
huge toll on my life and started affecting my health,” Barra, 40, said in
his Facebook post.
“Seeing how much I’ve left behind these past few years, it is clear to me
that the time has come to return.”