Storyboard18 | Xiaomi’s CMO Jaskaran Singh Kapany moves on in less than a year 

Former Xiaomi CMO Jaskaran Singh Kapany.

Jaskaran Singh Kapany, the chief marketing officer of Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi India, has moved on within a year of joining, a company spokesperson confirmed to Storyboard18.

He joined the company in June 2021 when Manu Jain, vice-president, Xiaomi, and managing director, Mi India, made the announcement via a LinkedIn post.

Kapany led all marketing initiatives across the company in both the smartphone and smart TV segments which continue to be a hyper-competitive market in India.

Company insiders felt that the CMO wanted to explore opportunities outside of the world of Chinese smartphone category. His next move remains unknown.

Prior to joining Xiaomi, Kapany headed marketing at mobile commerce company Paytm. He was instrumental in closing deals like BCCI Cricket, IPL, Media/Advertising deals to take Paytm to the masses. Before this, he was VP, Marketing & Ecommerce, ICICI Prudential Life. He spearheaded all brand-building initiatives and was responsible for many successful marketing, business efforts.

He also spent over six years with advertising agencies such as Lowe Lintas and JWT, where he worked on building brands such as Hindustan Unilever (Rin), Godrej (Brylcreem, Nutrine), Standard Chartered Bank, Reliance Money, Philips and De Beers, among others.

Chinese smartphone makers have been under intense government scrutiny in the past two years. In 2021, the Economic Times reported that India is exploring a regulation that may mandate teardown or in-depth testing of handsets to ensure that the devices and installed apps are not snooping on the citizens; the move is seen as a retaliation for the continued Chinese aggression at the India-China border.

In 2020, Xiaomi was among the few Chinese companies that faced backlash in India and calls from various quarters for boycotting of Chinese products after the India-China border standoff. The company has been on overdrive, pushing the “Made in India” branding ever since.

Xiaomi competes with other Chinese smartphone makers such as Vivo, Oppo, and OnePlus, which together account for more than 50% of the Indian smartphone market, according to data from Counterpoint Research.