Huga Barra leaves Google for China-based Xiaomi

Hugo Barra, Google’s Vice President of Product Management for Android or the guy we kept seeing on stage during various Android-related events in the past years. The Google executive is reportedly leaving the company and taking a job with extremely popular Chinese Android handset maker Xiaomi. There is also no word on what position Barra is taking at Xiaomi.

Before joining Google, Barra had worked at Nuance, the company behind the Dragon speech recognition software as well as Apple's Siri. Barra has been with Google since March 2008, but now he has tendered his resignation in order to move on to Xiaomi. Xiaomi is one of the fastest growing manufacturers in China, and has recently eclipsed Apple's sales in the country. Xiaomi is often called the "Apple of China."

Barra's departure will leave a big hole to fill at Google, but the company will likely have a plan in place for his succession. However there is no word on how they plan to move forward at this point. Google hasn't commented on the news, but reports suggest that his departure was a result of personal situation between Googlers.

source - AllThingsD