Realme India head Madhav Sheth reportedly replaced by Chinese face, months after Manu Jain left Xiaomi

With a 16 per cent market share, Chinese smartphone maker Realme is one of the top five players in Indian markets. Earlier this year, Manu Kumar Jain stepped down as the India head of another Chinese brand Xiaomi, and was replaced by Hong Kong based Alvin Tse.

Now the man behind Realme's rise in India, Madhav Sheth has reportedly also stepped down, to make way for a Chinese executive Michael Guo as the new country head.

Scripted Realme's rise in India with Sky Li

Exprienced in the sector for 17 years, Sheth had laid the foundation for Realme in India along with its CEO Sky Li.

He reported directly to the chief executive of the Shenzhen headquartered smartphone giant, and oversaw its diversification into AI of things and smart TV markets.

He also added earbuds and wearables to Realme's portfolio and made sure that all Realme smartphones in India were locally manufactured at a unit in Noida.

Triggered 5G adoption with eye on future

Under Sheth, Realme also brought the first 5G handset to India, two years before the service was even launched.

It even became the fastest growing global 5G smartphone brand, and has been able to boost exports to Nepal from a base in India.

Sheth's exit will leave a void to be filled by his Chinese counterpart, as he brought experience and an understanding of Indian markets, which his replacement can't match.