Xiaomi's VP Hugo Barra leaving the company to head Facebook's Oculus VR team was big news, only until now. The latest report confirms that the Chinese tech giant is going to miss one of the largest events in the mobile industry – MWC 2017 – in Barcelona, Spain, this year.
This comes as a shock as rumours suggested that Xiaomi would launch at least one flagship, either the Mi 6 or MIX Evo, or both smartphones at the upcoming tech show. Fans will be disappointed on hearing this, but there's still hope the company might make a surprise entry as an official confirmation is still due.
The unexpected move by Xiaomi was first reported by TechCrunch after the company's spokesperson specifically mentioned it doesn't have anything new to showcase at MWC 2017.
To recall, Xiaomi last year launched its flagship Mi 5 at MWC and live-streamed the entire event online. But the company is not short of any flagships right now, so it would make sense not to rush towards a product launch by compromising on bringing something innovative.
Xiaomi Mi 6, for instance, is said to come with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 chipset. But a recent report by Forbes suggested that Samsung has been hoarding the supply of the new chips, leaving other OEMs with no option to secure sizable orders. An industry insider revealed that Snapdragon 835 chips won't be up for grabs in large numbers until after the Galaxy S8 launch.
Could this be the reason for Xiaomi to skip MWC this year? It would be wise to wait for the latest chip than launch the 2017 flagship with an inferior processor like Snapdragon 821.
In case you are wondering why not just launch the rumoured MIX Evo edgeless-display smartphone at MWC, the reasons are same as Mi 6. Xiaomi MIX Evo is also expected to come with Snapdragon 835 chip.
Xiaomi's absence from MWC 2017 might disappoint fans, but it's for the greater good. Isn't it better to wait for a superior product than settle for an inferior one.
