POCO series might be discontinued, says IDC analyst

Even before Redmi’s official announcement of the K20 series in India, doubts and questions regarding the future of the one-year-old POCO series had started to rise in a lot of people’s minds. However, shortly after the Redmi K20 became official in India, those doubts resurfaced as Jai Mani, one of the top executives responsible for POCO’s development, left Xiaomi. According to Navkendar Singh, research director at IDC India, the premium Redmi K20 series with its aggressive prices casts an even bigger doubt on POCO’s future.

“Poco was launched to give high-end chosen few specs at mid-range prices, with clear compromises on design language”, said the analyst. “But now, with this aggressive pricing of K series by Xiaomi with its absolute flagship specs, hardware, and design, the reason for the existence of Poco as a brand is in doubt,” he added. With the premium Redmi K20 Pro priced just above Rs 25,000, there seems to be little room for the next POCO device although Indian users wouldn’t mind another POCO flagship below Rs 25,000 price with some sacrifices.

Moreover, Xiaomi’s officials including Manu Kumar Jain have resisted clear comments on the future of the brand more than once. Still, a glimmer of hope remains as a Xiaomi official told Economic Times that nothing changes for POCO because of an executive leaving work. That said, the POCO F1 was announced in August, and since we’re almost full circle things should get cleared up soon regarding the future of the series.