Xiaomi said it will further centralize its decision-making, and move away from being a loosely managed “flat” startup.

In addition to personnel changes, it has set up a high-level smartphone decision-making department called “Canmoubu,” which in Chinese refers to the People’s Liberation Army’s Staff Department, a leading command organ in the army.

The smartphone department will include a unit focused on display and touch-screen technology, and an independent audio product team for hardware R&D.

The company is also dividing its corporate security into two departments: safety regulation compliance and safety management, to focus on quality inspection and public affairs, respectively.

This is Xiaomi’s fourth structural and personnel shift since its IPO in Hong Kong last year. The moves are seen as attempts to combat rivals and thrive amid a sluggish domestic market. Xiaomi's 2018 fourth quarter smartphone shipments in China dropped 34.9%, according to industry watcher IDC's latest data.

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