Leadership Exodus At Chinese OEMs: After Manu Jain, Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth Quits

Realme India’s vice president and chief executive officer (CEO) Madhav Sheth has stepped down from his position at the smartphone company. On Wednesday (June 14), Sheth announced his resignation on his social media handle.

Realme founder Sky Li will take over as the head of the India business. Meanwhile, Sheth will now serve as a strategic advisor to Realme’s global product observations, market insights, and operations.

“The Government of India has taken many steps towards enhancing Indian exports for many years, and I am happy to be a part of this and support the government’s export plan. After a long conversation with Sky Li and also with his support, it’s time for me to contribute my share to the country’s export business,” Sheth added.

On Twitter, Sheth posted that after five years of association with the smartphone manufacturer, it was time for him to move on, terming Realme his ‘home, passion, and purpose.’

Further talking about Realme’s journey, he mentioned that the company has expanded across India and opened exclusive stores, with a focus on its ‘Make In India’ commitment. Besides, exporting Realme products has also popularised the use of 5G enabled phones in the country.

An alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Sheth has worked across the electronics and smartphone industries in sales and marketing, business leadership roles. In his previous stint, Sheth worked with Oppo as its sales director.

Sheth’s departure comes at a time when Indian authorities have tightened their noose around Chinese companies, especially smartphone makers, in the country. Its peers from Xiaomi to Oppo and even Vivo have been mired in controversies and grappling with cases related to tax evasion and money laundering.

This is besides the ongoing crackdown on online loan operators, crypto entities and an edtech startup with links to China. While the reasons for Sheth’s exit are not clear, uncharted regulatory waters have played spoilsport for Chinese companies operating in India.

Curiously, high-level exits and rejigs have become a norm in the Indian tech ecosystem of late. Earlier this year in January, Manu Jain resigned as global vice president at smartphone major Xiaomi. Afterwards in March, head of Swiggy-owned grocery delivery platform Instamart, Karthik Gurumurthy, stepped down from his position to take a sabbatical.

During the same month, MXPlayer’s COO Nikhil Gandhi resigned while hospitality startup Treebo’s cofounder Kadam Jeet Jain also bid adieu to his company. In April, Swiggy’s CTO Dale Vaz quit the company while AWS India’s president of commercial business Puneet Chandok announced his resignation earlier this month.