Realme is reportedly on track to sell more than 15 million smartphones globally in 2019, its first full year of operations. The company apparently has even bigger and better plans for next year, with Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth claiming that it is looking to ‘at least’ double the sales number in 2020.
In an interview with PTI, Sheth said, “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”.
Launched last year in India as an online-only brand to compete against the likes of Xiaomi and Asus in the burgeoning mid-range smartphone market, Realme, has become one of the biggest names in the segment in India and beyond. The company now operates in 20 markets globally, including China, Southeast Asia, Russia, and Europe. However, India continues to be the single largest market for Realme, having sold 5.2 million smartphones just during the festive shopping season this Diwali.
While Xiaomi continues to remain the number one smartphone brand in India, Realme has also managed to corner a significant share of the market. The latest data released by IDC suggests that it is now one of the top-five smartphone brands in the country with a 14.3 percent market share. Data from Counterpoint Research also seems to back that report, revealing that Realme registered an 808 percent year-on-year growth by shipping more than 10 million phones in the third quarter of 2019.
Meanwhile, Sheth also confirmed in the interview that Realme is looking to soon roll out a yet-unnamed offline-only series in India. “We are lining up with more smart accessories with great performance and trendy design. Realme will become a tech lifestyle brand in 2020”, he said. Aimed at the mid-premium range, the new series will focus more on the aesthetics and overall usability rather than specifications and raw-power. The company is following a strategy similar to Samsung and Vivo, both of which sit above Realme in the Indian market.
