Xiaomi and Redmi part ways to operate independently as different brands: Report

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi said it will make Redmi an independent brand without revealing details behind the reason to do so. Redmi was originally introduced as a budget smartphone line-up by Xiaomi in July 2013. The announcement essentially makes Redmi a sub-brand of Xiaomi.

According to reports, Xiaomi’s upcoming January 10 event in China will witness the launch of first Redmi phone as an independent brand. The company is expected to announce a 48-megapixel camera sensor.

Xiaomi's affordable Redmi and Redmi Note line-ups have been fairly popular, especially in countries like India. According to Lei Jun, Founder of the company, the reason behind splitting up Redmi and Xiaomi is the "focus," reports GizmoChina.

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GizmoChina quoted Lei as saying on Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo:

"While the Redmi brand focuses on value-for-money budget smartphones, the Mi brand is focused on high-end devices. Also, the Redmi devices are primarily sold through e-commerce platforms while Mi devices are not e-commerce focused."

Xiaomi is gearing up to announce a new smartphone on January 10 which is believed to feature a 48MP camera. A new teaser page has gone live on the company's Chinese website, according to which Xiaomi is releasing a new Redmi-branded phone next week in China.

Previously, a leaked teaser spotted on Weibo suggested that Xiaomi could be preparing to launch a new smartphone called Redmi Pro 2 in China. As per leaked teasers, powering Redmi Pro 2 could be Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor that essentially supports a 48MP camera.