Apple’s enterprise mobility head for the India region has quit to set up a new Indian smartphone company, selling Android devices.

Sharad Mehrotra joined Apple in October 2007, the year that Apple launched the iPhone. Since then he has worked to build Apple’s brand in India, which the company has been particularly keen on pushing over the past several years.

In addition to passing the billion dollar sales mark for iPhones in the country for the first time in 2015, Apple has also focused on expanding its enterprise business in India, referring to the area of expertise for Sharad Mehrotra. Apple is supposedly hoping that 15-20 percent of its revenues will soon come come from the enterprise market in India, offsetting the potential of slowing iPhone sales.

It’s not exactly known Mehrotra quit his job at Apple, but his new role as a co-founder at Hyve Mobility will see him launch smartphones targeted at an Indian customer base. The first handsets are expected to arrive “by March.” For his new business he is partnering up with Aditya Agarwal, who heads up Euphoria and 4 Genius Minds, two of the fastest-growing Apple retail partners in the country.

“In the current Android scenario, no brand enjoys customer loyalty and we want to bring the change with our path-breaking products portfolio and service offerings,” said Agarwal.

Given that iPhone 6s sales have reportedly slowed in India due to their high price point, if Mehrotra and Agarwal are able to sprinkle some of the Apple experience magic to help sell local Android phones, while still keeping prices low, that might prove to be a winning formula.

Hey, Sharad Mehrotra is far from the most prominent ex-Appler to have tried a similar strategy!

Source: Economic Times