Realme is now the second-largest smartphone brand in India. A recent market survey by Counterpoint Research revealed that Realme beat Samsung in the fourth quarter of 2021 to capture 17 per cent of the market share. That is a meagre 1 per cent ahead of Samsung’s share of 16 per cent, but it is a significant milestone in the journey of Realme, which has been one of the most aggressive smartphone brands. With the new feat, Realme is now closer than ever to Xiaomi, which still dominates the market with a share of 24 per cent last quarter, and that should be a hint that a wildfire is approaching.
Both Realme and Xiaomi are sales juggernauts. While Realme started a little more than three years back, Xiaomi is quite older and deeply entrenched in India’s smartphone market. That is how Xiaomi has managed to outdo Samsung from the top position in the market and retain its position no matter what. Xiaomi’s aggressive approach has fructified so far and will continue to, but it needs a different strategy maybe. Xiaomi may have beaten Samsung four years ago and continues to do that, but Realme is coming for it. For Realme, vying for the top spot is the next goal and its market awareness is adept enough to help the brand achieve that.
“Our growth over the past three years is a demonstration of the love that our users have for the brand. Ever since realme came into existence, all our efforts have been put into bringing leap-forward technologies to the users and providing them with the best of experiences,” said Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme India, vice president of Realme, and president of Realme International Business Group. “We achieved some major milestones in 2021 and being the second-largest brand in Q4 2021 is the perfect way to end the year. From here, we are only looking at more growth and have our goals set for 2022. We want to be India’s no. 1 smartphone brand this year, and I believe that the path we are on is the correct one.”
For the past few quarters, different market survey firms have labeled Realme as the fastest growing brand in the country, and it looks like Realme is in no mood to back down. For the fourth quarter, Realme registered a growth of 20 per cent year over year in India – the highest as compared to the figures of other brands. Stalwarts like Samsung showed a decline in shipments, in fact. So Realme is clearly doubling down on its offerings left, right, and centre, and Xiaomi needs to worry about how long it will manage to retain the position. And if this is not a threat, Realme’s milestone of crossing 100 million in shipments last year should be. With the right mix of specifications and a phone at every big price point is how Relame is spearheading its growth to becoming the top smartphone brand in India.
Realme is now preparing to launch the 9 Pro series in India and it is reintroducing a heart rate sensor to phones with the 9 Pro+. Samsung used to offer heart rate sensors on its high-end Galaxy S-series phones but it gave up on that feature long back. Not just that, Realme is also bringing high-end features such as image stabilisation to its phone portfolio with the upcoming phone. These features should be good enough to attract customers who already root for Realme’s knack for the best and reasonable pricing.
