Hugo Barra leaves Xiaomi to return to the Silicon Valley, joins Facebook's virtual Reality division.

Ex-Google vice president, Hugo Barra, who had become the face of the company for the last 3.5 years and played a pivotal role in expanding the company from its stronghold in China to other markets like India, Malaysia and almost 20 others has called it a quit.

Barra sounded positively homesick(though he is a Brazilian, he has called the Silicon Valley home for the past many years) as he said, that "Working at Xiaomi was the greatest and most challenging adventure of his life", but he would have to leave because "living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health"

He added: "My friends, which I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family." He then mentioned how he leaves Xiaomi in a comfortable position and good hands, and would start a new adventure in the Valley itself after a much needed break.

          

There are many theories to this move. The evident one is definitely this: a first world executive cannot handle the bustling and polluted environments of Beijing and Bangalore. The comforts of California are an important factor which cannot be ignored.

But can there be a deeper reason to this move? The move comes at a turbulent time in Xiaomi, when the company, which was on a dream run is finally staggering. The founder Lei Jun has himself admitted that the company grew too fast, and now they need to steady up. The company has also refused to disclose its sales figure for the first time since inception. And the targets that the company set for this year, of a 100 billion yuan, is the same as that of last year.



Has the Chinese Player reached a saturation, and Barra was first in line to escape the sinking ship? Or Barra's resignation signifies a major restructuring that the company is to undergo? Only the future can tell.

Barra will leave his position in the hands of senior VP Xiang Wang, who will be responsible for global expansion, while Barra will still hold the company shares and transition as an advisor to the company, as Lei Jun posted on Facebook.



Update: Seems like Barra did not get his 'much needed break' after all. Facebook has already confirmed that Barra will be joining in as the head of Oculus, the virtual reality division at the Social Media Company.