Realme eyes growth in global smartphone market

Realme, a fast-growing Chinese smartphone brand, said it will step up its push to expand its presence in 61 markets where its products and services have become available in just four years. 

The move came as the company moves towards its second stage of fine-tuned development to resonate with local users in each market and grow its popularity among tech-savvy young consumers. 

Xu Qi, vice-president of Realme, said the company has recorded a cumulative user base of more than 140 million in just four years, and joined the top five vendors in some markets. 

"In the future, we will focus on further tapping into two markets, namely China and India, where annual smartphone shipments exceed 10 million units. We also aim to cultivate 15 million-level-shipment markets in Southeast Asia and Europe," Xu said, adding the 15 markets include countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Li Bingzhong, founder and CEO of Realme, said in a letter to mark the company's fourth anniversary it has eight markets with annual smartphone shipments exceeding 1 million units. 

To achieve its goal, the company will increase research and development spending by 58 percent year-on-year, focusing on innovation in four aspects: screen, flash charging, gaming-optimized experiences and new forms of hardware, Xu said. 

Realme will also reduce its product portfolios and integrate resources to develop popular smartphones, which will focus on the price segment of $250-400, Xu added. 

Realme made its way into a top 50 list of major Chinese global brands for overseas influence for the first time this year. Its brand influence has increased by 20 percent in 11 markets and by 70 percent in 7 developed markets according to the Top 50 Kantar BrandZ Chinese Global Brand Builders 2022 report, which was jointly issued by Google and Kantar Group, a data analytics and brand consulting company.