• Regional head confident of replicating the success they had in South East Asia in this region also.
• Realme has high hopes in GCC as 70% of the population is from South Asia.
• Realme wants only Chinese smartphone vendors to benefit from Huawei’s Google woes and not by Samsung or Apple.

Dubai: China’s smartphone manufacturer – Realme – aims to become the third-largest player in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries within the next two years, the company’s regional official said.

Speaking to TechChannel News in an exclusive, Meng Yuan, General Manager for Realme GCC, said that they are the fastest-growing brand globally and are confident of replicating the same success in this region also.

Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, Realme and iQOO brands come under the parent company BBK Electronics.

According to Counterpoint Research, Realme continued to be the fastest-growing brand in the South East Asia (SEA) region, growing 141 per cent year on year and 64 per cent quarter on quarter, to capture 13 per cent market share as of second quarter.

Realme entered the top five brands in all key SEA markets (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) for the first time.

In other Asia Pacific markets like Australia, Taiwan, and Pakistan, Realme was successful in becoming one of the top five brands. In Bangladesh, it grew 1,000 per cent quarter on quarter to take six per cent of the market.

According to Counterpoint Research, Realme is ranked seventh in terms of sales globally.

Making its mark felt

“Realme’s strategy was to enter South-East Asian markets in the first phase and make it a success and then expand into the Middle East markets. In South-East Asian markets, we are number four or number five and it is a big achievement in less than two years,” Yuan said.

Realme entered the GCC region in January this year but had to slow down its marketing actions due to Covid-19 and lockdowns.

“We were growing very steadily. The actions will start again when the market opens up and we will be successful here also. We plan to do a lot of marketing activities,” Yuan said.

When asked about the cut-throat competition taking place in the smartphone space and the importance people give to Samsung, Apple and Huawei brands, she said that the GCC market is not a very “premium market”, apart from a small percentage.

“About 70 per cent of the population in the GCC is from South Asia where Realme as a brand is very popular. Being a well-known brand and at an affordable price point will make it easier for us as it needs no introduction. We are targeting customers who are aware of the brand,” she said.

Consumer-oriented product

Realme has launched nine models in the GCC market and will focus both online as well as offline.

The smartphones prices range between AED399 and AED1,199.

Abhilash Kumar, a Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said that Realme is committed to bringing the most advanced technology within corresponding price bands to its consumers.

In addition to creating and implementing a future-orientated 5G expansion strategy, he said that it is one of the first brands to bring 5G devices to the mass market price bands.

Yuan said that smartphone will steal more spotlight and become the centre of the action when the internet of things gains traction.

“Realme has certain products in the IoT space. The IoT segment is emerging and this region is important as the population is young and they are the trendsetters. It [IoT] has a bright future in the GCC,” she said.

Similar to Huawei’s “1+8+N” strategy, Realme has “1+4+N” strategy.

The “1” in the 1+4+N is the smartphone while the “4” is referred to the four smart home products – smart TV, truly wireless earphones, smartwatch and smart speaker, and the “N” is referred to Realme’s complete range of IoT products such as 360-degree smart cameras, smart scale, smart band, electric toothbrushes, etc.

“Realme’s recent expansion beyond smartphones into the IoT space with products like the smart band, smartwatch, TWS, and smart TVs will help the brand build a more holistic ecosystem, further strengthening its position in the market,” Kumar said.

Realme has already launched its “1+4+N” strategy in certain markets.

Yuan said that some of the products are already launched in the GCC and the launch of more products will depend on the demand.

Looking at HarmonyOS

When asked whether Huawei’s Google woes will benefit Realme, Yuan said: “As a Chinese, we are sorry to know about Huawei’s situation. If Huawei is not able to sell its products outside of China, the market share should be filled only by Chinese brands and not by Samsung or Apple. We are obliged to get some share to compensate for our country’s loss for Huawei”.

The US administration has termed Huawei as a vehicle for Chinese state espionage and has tightened restrictions on the firm to sell its smartphones and 5G networking equipment outside of China.

“If all the functions are up to the consumers’ expectations, we will use HarmonyOS and why not. Huawei has shown a good example and has taken the right direction to launch HarmonyOS on phones but it will take some time to catch up Google Play Store and it is not rocket science,” Yuan said.