Xiaomi India Ropes In Samsung Veteran Sandeep Singh Arora As CBO

Xiaomi India has roped in Sandeep Singh Arora as its chief business officer as a part of its effort to drive strategic growth.

In his new role, Arora will lead the company’s business development initiatives, drive revenue growth, cultivate new strategic partnerships and expand its market presence

With more than 30 years of experience in managing and growing consumer brands, he was with Samsung India’s consumer electronics division as head of the online business unit and then the head of marketing communications. 

He has also held senior leadership roles as VP of marketing at Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, category director and EVP of marketing at PepsiCo India and Unilever. 

“Xiaomi India is at the forefront of transforming the tech landscape in India and its commitment to making innovative technology accessible to all is truly inspiring….our focus will be on delivering exceptional products to aspirational Indians”, said Arora.

The development also comes after over three months when Xiaomi India roped in former Motorola Mobility India managing director Sudhin Mathur as its new chief operating officer (COO).

Also, in November last year, Xiaomi India president Muralikrishnan B announced his departure from the company after six years.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi is also planning to bring generative AI (GenAI) user applications to its smartphones in India soon. The initiative will majorly cover Xiaomi’s upper-mid range smartphones which are priced around INR 40K.

In September last year, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) accused smartphone brands, including Xiaomi and Samsung of collaborating with Amazon and Flipkart to exclusively roll out their products on these ecommerce platforms’ Indian sites in breach of antitrust laws.

Following that, Xiaomi wrote a letter to CCI, asking the authority to withdraw its report as it contained some sensitive company data, including model-wise sales.