Realme has sold 15 million smartphones in the first year of its operations in India and aims to double the sale next year, PTI reported.
Realme is taking on bigger rival Xiaomi with similar price points and segments of Rs 7,000-20,000 phones.
Realme competes with other Chinese smartphone players like Vivo and Oppo, which are offline-focussed with investments in channel marketing and offline distribution. Realme has followed the strategy of the market leader closely and focused on online market from the start.
Realme has 14.3 percent market share in the Indian smartphone market.
Realme has become the fourth leading smartphone brand in India during the third quarter of 2019, according to IDC.
Xiaomi is the market leader with 27.1 percent share followed by Samsung with 18.9 percent and Vivo with 15.2 percent in the third quarter. Realme had 3.1 percent market share in the third quarter of 2018.
Starting from India, Realme is present in 20 markets including China, Southeast Asia, Russia and Europe.
Realme has shipped 10 million smartphones during the third quarter of 2019. Phones like the Realme C2, Realme 3i and Realme 5 were among the company’s best-selling models during the festive season sales.
Realme says the company now ranks seventh in the global smartphone market, according to Counterpoint Research.
“We will end 2019, the first full year of our operations, with sales of 15 million handsets. We are targeting to at least double this in 2020,” Realme CEO Madhav Sheth said. “We have sold 5.2 million smartphones during Diwali month alone.”
Madhav Sheth said the company plans to roll out an offline-only series for India which will be named by the end of this year. The new series — aimed at the mid-premium range — will focus on all-rounder user experiences such as a better battery, touch, and aesthetics.
Realme has 4 successful product line-ups in India: C series, Number series, Pro series, and X series.
Realme maintains a strong presence online and is already the number 1 brand on Indian e-commerce website Flipkart and number 2 overall. The brand is expanding its presence in offline markets. Realme is targeting 30 percent sales from offline and 70 percent from online.
