New Delhi, Jan 31,2023: Madhav Sheth, VP of realme and President of realme International Business Group, on Tuesday revealed that he was once rejected as one of Xiaomi’s distribution partners in India, as he greeted his arch rival Manu Jain, who has bid goodbye to Xiaomi after serving in for nine years.

In a tweet, Sheth said that “from the day being rejected to be one of your distribution partners to our journey as competitors, it has been phenomenal”. “All the best @manukumarjain for your journey ahead,” he added.

To which, Jain replied: “Whoops! Looks like we missed out on a great opportunity. Thank you for applying to become a distribution partner and thank you so much for your wishes. Best of luck to you for the future.”

Manu Jain on Monday announced to quit global smartphone brand Xiaomi after serving it for nine years, saying the “end of a journey also marks the beginning of a new one, full of exciting opportunities”.

The social media barbs between the two top Indian smartphone players were talk of the town a couple of years back.

In January 2020, replying to an earlier tweet by Jain, the then Xiaomi Vice President and Xiaomi India Managing Director which blamed realme for being a “copy-cat brand”, Sheth tweeted: “A real innovative brand and market leader won’t behave like that. Basic dignity and ethics should be maintained no matter how insecure you are of your competitor’s growth.”

In May 2019, both the smartphone bosses took to Twitter, starting with Jain’s Twitter outburst against realme. However, the rivalry stopped playing on social media platforms afterwards and the pandemic years more or less became a true professional rivalry among the two companies.

Jain subsequently joined the Xiaomi international team. In June 2022, he transitioned to the global role as Group Vice President.

Xiaomi held the top spot in India’s smartphone market in 2022. It was a tough year for Xiaomi as it faced legal complications, component shortages, and intense competition, according to Counterpoint Research.

Realme is now focusing on mid-tier and 5G as it launched its number series towards the end of the year with all 5G SKUs in Rs 15,000 segment, according to Counterpoint Research.