In today’s fast-paced world, the youth seek challenges, empowerment, innovation, speed, and pride. Electronic products especially smartphones have become a significant part of their desired modern lifestyle. Realme mobiles, a disruptive tech brand, has emerged as a frontrunner in capturing the aspirations of the young generation by providing trend-setting innovative designs, and powerful performances, all while being easy on the pocket.
Realme is a Chinese smartphone brand, founded in 2018 by Sky Li, the former vice-president of Oppo. Initially, it started as a sub-brand of Oppo but quickly transitioned into an independent brand under the umbrella of the parent company, BBK Electronics. This parent company controls other popular mobile phone brands like Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, and IQOO.
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Realme: The India Story
Realme’s journey in India started in late 2018 with a small team of seven people. They quickly started hiring talent from across the country. However, the brand faced a significant challenge in 2020 when the global pandemic struck. Realme mobiles turned this adversity into opportunity by pushing its products through online channels and E-Commerce marketplaces.
This was strongly backed by their smart product strategy, aggressive pricing, consumer insight, and innovative digital marketing. This resulted in Realme achieving second spot by 2021 in the Indian smartphone market. It was a remarkable achievement for a young brand in a highly competitive market.
Leapfrogging: Winning Mantra for Realme
Realme attributes its rapid breakthrough in the Indian market to its ‘Leapfrogging strategy’ and commitment to young customers. This has been their success mantra in domestic (China) as well as international markets (India, Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America, etc) so far.
To enter the crucial smartphone market in India, Realme created a ‘leapfrog technical point’ with an industry-first 128GB memory under Rs. 10,000-12,000 /- price range. This was backed by the trendy design, Full HD screen, AI battery management, and much more. The brand managed to arouse Indian smartphone users and earned their attention.
Continuing its entrepreneurial spirit, Realme mobiles has been able to provide the next level of experiences to its young customer base by outdoing itself in terms of product design, quality, performance, branding, and customer service. In the following years, credited with multiple industry-first like India’s first 64MP smartphone (Realme XT), India’s first 5G smartphone (Realme X50 Pro), India’s fastest charging smartphone (Realme X2 Pro), 150W fast charging smartphone (Realme GT NEO 3T) and many more, Realme established itself as a major tech disruptor in Indian mobile sector. This has helped them remain ahead of the curve and earn exponential growth.
As per the latest report, Realme mobiles already has 14.5% of the market share in the category and is ranked among the top five smartphone brands in the country.
Expanding Product Portfolio
Realme started off as a ‘Value for ‘Money’ mobile phone brand for young customers. However, it didn’t stop at smartphones. The Brand expanded its portfolio to include AIoT (Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things) products. Today, Realme offers a wide range of products in multiple categories, including audio, wearable, laptops, tablets and accessories, and lifestyle.
Realme offers ‘Something for Everyone’.
Realme’s product portfolio in India clearly reflects the ‘Something for everyone’ approach. It has a wide range of smartphones covering different segments of the market. There are entry-level to mid-range smartphones which offer the latest features, trendy designs, and powerful performances at competitive price points. Realme’s flagship devices are designed to compete with segment leaders, flaunting the company’s technical capabilities and future readiness.
Realme popular products in the Indian market
Realme Number Series
These handsets offer impressive specifications at competitive prices, including high-refresh-rate displays, powerful processors, and versatile cameras. Each number series set new benchmarks for Realme in the mid-range segment and established it as a brand delivering exceptional value for money. It started with Realme 1, Realme 2, Realme 3, and so on. Initial series numbers have now been discontinued and currently, 6 to 10 series are available in the Indian market. Realme 10 and Realme 10 Pro are recently launched and has been among the best sellers in the segment.
Realme Narzo Series
The Narzo series is targeted at gaming enthusiasts in the Indian market. These devices are loaded with gaming-centric features like powerful processors, large batteries, and immersive displays. Realme Narzo series smartphones provide an excellent gaming experience at affordable price points, making them a preferred choice among mobile gamers. Narzo 10 and Narzo 10A were huge successes and established Realme in this category successfully. Narzo N50 and Narzo N53 launched recently have been making waves in the entry-level mobile gaming segment in the Indian smartphone market.
Realme C Series
Democratizing entry-level smartphones, Realme C-Series played a vital role in Realme’s success by offering affordable mobile devices with essential features. C-Series smartphones have allowed Realme to reach out to a wide consumer base and establish a strong foothold in the entry-level segment. Its range starts from 5999/- with devices that offer reliable performances, decent cameras, and long-lasting battery life. Realme C15, Realme C21, Realme C30s, Realme C35, and Realme C55 are some of the popular models which has been very well received in the Indian smartphone market.
Realme X Series / Realme GT Series
Realme X Series showcased the brand’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation. Devices like Realme X and Realme X2 Pro introduced cutting-edge features such as Pop-Up selfie cameras, In-Display fingerprint sensors, and Flagship-Level specifications. These smartphones not only attracted tech enthusiasts but also positioned Realme as a brand capable of delivering flagship-like experiences at more accessible price points.
In 2021, Realme announced that X Series will be replaced with Realme GT Series. Resonating its flagship models with high performance, super speed, luxury sports cars, Realme GT series smartphones are generally loaded with best-in-class processors, immersive designs, trend-setting colors, premium look, powerful cameras, fast charging capabilities, and longer battery life. Realme GT Neo 2, Realme GT2 Pro, and Realme GT Master are some of the popular models in this series.
Realme continued success and future outlook.
Realme’s success in the Indian market is evident from its consistent ranking among the top smartphone brands in terms of market share and unit shipments. The brand has aggressive plans to achieve the top spot in the Indian smartphone market in the coming three years by using tried and tested leapfrogging strategy. Being a consumer-friendly brand, Realme is actively engaged with its user community through social media platforms and pay attention to their feedback, which helps them to quickly respond to the latest trend and expectations.
To further reinforce its commitment to inspiring the millennial generation and set new benchmarks in the Indian smartphone industry, the brand has just announced Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador for Realme smartphones. The first product to be endorsed by Shah Rukh Khan will be Realme 11 pro 5G
Conclusion
Realme has redefined the Indian smartphone market by offering outstanding technology that meets the demands of the young generation. From its humble beginnings as a sub-brand of Oppo to becoming an independent brand, Realme has consistently delivered value-for-money products. With its diverse product portfolio, commitment to innovation, and focus on understanding market trends, Realme is well-positioned to continue its success and bring forth exciting developments in smart audio, wearables, tablets, and accessory categories.
About the Blog Writer
I am Dipak Kumar. I am an entrepreneur and content creator. In my long professional journey, I have worked with various organizations at different levels as a marketer, retailer, and merchandiser. Throughout this journey, I have worked along the consumer funnel. I have witnessed customers’ ever-changing buying behaviours, from brick-and-mortar stores to organized retail to E-Commerce.
I am writing this blog to share my knowledge and understanding of trending news, events, and subjects from Marketing, Retail, E-Commerce, Edtech, Travel, and Start-Ups. It’s not a nine-to-five job for me. It is a whole day and night job requiring in-depth research and collaboration to put things together and bring a new perspective for your consideration. I love doing this and hope you also like it and share it with your contact and online communities.
