Xiaomi will not be present at MWC 2017, says report

Xiaomi will not be attending the annual Mobile World Congress, which is scheduled to take place in the end of February in Barcelona.

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Xiaomi was expected to announce the Mi 6 smartwatch at MWC 2017.

Xiaomi will not be attending the annual Mobile World Congress, which is scheduled to take place in the end of February in Barcelona. Tech publication TechCrunch, reported this quoting a Xiaomi spokesperson, but didn’t provide concrete reasons for its absence from the world’s largest trade show .

Last year, Xiaomi announced its flagship smartphone, the Mi 5, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This year too, the Chinese smartphone maker was rumoured to show off its next-generation Android phone, the Mi 6, at MWC. It seems like the launch of the Mi 6 might have been on the hold. With reports of Samsung claiming exclusive rights over the Snapdragon 835 processor until April, it appears as if Mi fans have to wait more for the Mi 6.

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The absence of Xiaomi at this year’s MWC does, however raise a number of questions about the current state of affairs of the company. A key reason for its absence could be due to slow growth in smartphone sales. In an open letter to staff, Xiaomi’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun recently said how the company grew too fast, hinting at the possible restructuring.

Also read: Xiaomi Mi 6 to come in three variants; launch expected at MWC 2017

Xiaomi also recently lost Hugo Barra, its Vice President of International who joined Facebook’s virtual reality division. Barra was the key executive at Xiaomi and a major link between the Beijing-based company and the rest of the world. With Barra departing from Xiaomi, the company is left with no one who can match a Brazilian-born MIT graduate, who previously led product for the Android mobile OS at Google.

The company’s decision to skip the Mobile World Congress doesn’t necessarily indicate that Xiaomi will not going to release the Mi 6. For now, we’ll have to wait for Xiaomi hold its own event.

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