Barra Leaves Xiaomi to Return to Silicon Valley

Xiaomi’s international chief Hugo Barra has quit after a turbulent four years during which the Chinese smartphone maker rose to the top of its home market before local rivals mimicked its model and dethroned the brand, according to Bloomberg.

The former Google executive is returning to Silicon Valley after being hired with much fanfare in 2013 to be Xiaomi’s global face, becoming a fixture on the conference circuit and the up-and coming vendor’s main pitchman to foreign audiences. In a Facebook post, Barra said it was time for him to return home to embark “on a new adventure,“ without elaborating. Senior Vice President Xiang Wang will oversee global operations after Barra departs in February.

Barra was given the task of taking Xiaomi global, helping the company make inroads into India, where sales topped $1 billion for the first time in 2016. During his tenure, it briefly became China’s biggest smartphone vendor by packing high-end components into inexpensive devices and building a vibrant online community of users. But local brands such as Oppo, Vivo and Huawei rapidly copied its moves and developed more innovative competitive tactics.

Xiaomi was last valued at $45 billion in 2014, making it one of the world’s largest startups. It drew comparisons to Apple after doubling revenue that year and climbing to the top of the Chinese smartphone market. It’s since struggled, missing its 2015 shipments target and falling behind Oppo and Huawei. The company is aiming for $14.5 billion in revenue this year, the same target it had set as far back as 2015.