realme was founded at a time when the global smartphone market was reaching a point of saturation, with existing players competing for a chunk of the market. In fact, at the time realme was founded back in 2018, Chinese smartphones saw a drop in sales by 10.5% year-on-year. Sky Li, realme founder and a seasoned expert in the tech and smartphone arena, was not unfamiliar with the situation. The visionary Li had an idea – while all the established players are competing for the existing market, what was a key segment that still remained untapped? The simple yet overlooked answer was – the youth.
Young people, curious by nature, are more receptive of new ideas, and are often first-adopters of anything new. From his own extensive experience and close observations, Li realized the immense potential in the youth-oriented smartphone segment. Sky Li had been witnessing the overseas market for many years. While the youth demand proper functionality and aesthetics, they also seek them within a price range that is accessible to them. They also like attention. From the very start, realme was aware of this and acted upon this awareness. The brand’s current “Dare to Leap” slogan aptly captures the youth’s indomitable spirit.
In less than six months of commencing operations, realme had penetrated into ten major global markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, and India. The quick success not only resulted in a keen focus on its target segment, but also hard and efficient work. An example of the success is the selling of 2 million units at a time in an online sales even during Diwali in India.
An increasing number of countries across the world is gradually transitioning or about to transition to the era of 5G technology. Recognizing this inevitable transition, realme focused on its products being compatible with 5G technology. While its products in the home market of China comes with 5G compatibility, its products in other markets slowly taking baby steps towards that technology will also be capable as soon as the technology is in the horizon.
A major reason for realme’s success is its careful consideration of customer feedback. The company monitors and collects information on user feedback from social media, and communicates directly with users to enhance user engagement experience. The feedback is accommodated into the design and functionality of new products. Thus, the brand’s customers are not simply users, but also co-creators of realme’s products.
realme greatly focuses on its human resource. The creativity of the company’s young and energetic team has been reflected in the sales figures of the brand, which reached 20 million in a little over a year and crossed 50 million in around two years, which is a remarkable feat by any measure. In fact, some members of realme’s passionate workforce are former loyal users who joined the company after graduation, first as interns and then as permanent employees. Moreover, the company’s communication culture is direct. Any employee willing to share an idea have direct access to the CEO.
Moving forward, realme seeks to continue catering to the ever-evolving tastes of the youth, and continue its meteoric rise in the global smartphone and other tech consumer device arena. Given its rise into global prominence only within a couple of years of operation, it is safe to assume that anything is possible going forward.
