Xiaomi converts POCO into an independent brand - to launch a device soon

• Xiaomi announces POCO will come back to India as an independent brand.
• POCO F2 spotted on Geekbench, expected to launch soon.

Over a year after Xiaomi launched devices under its sub-brand POCO, the Chinese smartphone maker said that it would be an independent brand.

In a video, Jain said that POCO is now an independent entity with its own team and ‘go to market strategy’.

“POCO is coming back. You will see POCO products in 2020 again in India. This time, they will be in a slightly different avatar because POCO is now an independent brand and a separate legal entity. It will be run by a separate team.”

The POCO F1 was launched as an affordable flagship in 2018 and sold over 700,000 units in 3 months. Despite the success, the company did not launch any device in 2019.

What this means for POCO

The POCO F1 was launched with a customized version of MIUI. Now that POCO is an independent brand, we expect its devices to offer a different experience than Xiaomi.

Jain hinted that POCO may launch more than one device in 2020 in India. It may also launch accessories under the brand. We expect the POCO F2 will be the first device from the independent brand.

POCO F2 may launch soon

The POCO F2 was spotted on Geekbench running on Android 10 with 8GB RAM. The company is expected to improve the device along the lines of its Redmi K20 series with improved design and cameras.

The POCO F2 listing mentions a Qualcomm chipset code-named ‘Pheonixin’. The Redmi K30 with Snapdragon 730G was codenamed ‘Pheonix’. It is possible that ‘Pheonixin’ could mean ‘Pheonix India’ and the POCO F2 could be the Indian variant of the Redmi K30.

We should know more about the POCO F2 and POCO’s future plans in the next few days.

See also:

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