POCO is an independent brand since officially announcing it during early 2020. Once a sub-brand of Xiaomi, it debuted with the legendary POCO F1 in 2018 but became inactive for the whole of 2019. However, it came back with the POCO X2 which was a rebranded version of Redmi K30 in China. Since then, the company has been borrowing a few models from Redmi and relaunching it under POCO branding. Amidst a lot of criticism, Deputy Director of POCO, Anuj Sharma has explained to Indian Express the reasons for rebranding devices.
First off, Anuj says the rebranded POCO phones are better versions of Redmi devices. And, offer more value for the money. While he didn’t exactly mention how better they are, we have to agree on the value preposition part. For instance, Redmi launched the Note 9 pro with an 18W adapter in-box but included 33W in the “Max” variant. However, POCO M2 Pro which is a rebranded Note 9 Pro included a 33W charger in-box. And a Z-axis vibration motor at the same price as Note 9 Pro(₹13,999).
Besides, Anuj believes that POCO is a new brand and hence, it is difficult to design and develop phones on its own. This gives a clear cut explanation of why POCO currently uses resources from Xiaomi like factories, services, and MIUI. Further, he says that other brands like realme, OnePlus have also launched rebranded devices in the past. He also quotes that devices like OnePlus One and Realme’s first smartphone were rebranded versions of Oppo devices.
He goes onto say that POCO will follow the same strategy in the future. Also, the company is in no mood to develop a software version on its own and will continue with Xiaomi’s MIUI. For the unaware, POCO currently has X, M, C, and flagship F series of devices. The budget X, M, C, has rebranded devices like POCO X2(Redmi K30 China), POCO M2 Pro(Redmi Note 9 Pro), POCO M2(Redmi 9), POCO C3(Redmi 9C China).
