For the second time this year, Google’s Android unit is losing a key executive. Hugo Barra, vice president of product management at Android, is leaving Google to take a position with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi. Earlier this year, Andy Rubin, who is credited with creating the Android operating system, also left the division.
Roughly four out of every five smartphones shipping today are Android phones, a testament to the Google team’s success with manufacturers, software developers, and consumers. Nonetheless Barra’s departure comes at a critical time for Android, as the operating system faces a slew of new challengers beyond Apple’s iOS. Canonical’s Ubuntu and Mozilla’s Firefox OS are both attracting significant interest among app developers and smartphone manufacturers. Microsoft’s Windows operating system is gaining traction in mobile as well. And just yesterday, Taiwan’s HTC said that it will create its own operating system for Chinese smartphones.
Xiaomi, the Chinese company that is hiring Barra, is an ambitious startup that has hired other Google employees, as well as veterans of Microsoft and Motorola. Xiaomi’s founder and CEO is Lei Jun, a successful Chinese entrepreneur who founded e-commerce site Joyo and then sold it to Amazon. Jun has said he wants to build a company that can take on Apple, and Xiaomi says it expects to sell 20 million smartphones this year. (Apple sells about 30 million a quarter.)
The Chinese smartphone market is set to explode as China Mobile, the largest carrier in the world, starts to roll out LTE. Already the market is growing much faster than those in developed countries. According to IDC, 78 million smartphones were shipped to Chinese retailers and consumers during the first quarter, up 117% from the year-ago quarter.
Xiaomi makes Android smartphones, and Google said today that it is glad Hugo Barra is “staying within the Android ecosystem.” Beyond that, the company did not have much to say about Barra’s departure. Some Silicon Valley insiders are speculating that the move is related to a personal situation, a rumor which has been denied by the sources who helped break the news of Barra’s departure from Google.
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