Realme banks on new P-series, to hit 50 million smartphone sales mark on Flipkart

Realme Smartphone (file image)

Realme expects its new P-series line-up would help it achieve a cumulative sale of 50 million smartphones on the e-commerce platform Flipkart in India this year.

“This is a completely Flipkart-driven product. For the Realme P-series, we are targeting to achieve our 50 million smartphones (sales) with Flipkart,” Tarini P Das, Director Sales and Business Development at Realme India told ETTelecom.

Citing a recent Counterpoint report, Das added that Realme has captured the top spot on Flipkart in the Rs 20,0000 to Rs 30,000 price band in February 2024 with a 29.2% share.

The Realme P-series, priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000, would be positioned above the brand’s budget-friendly C-series smartphones. Realme also sells Narzo and number mid-range series, and performance-oriented GT series.

The price range pits the Realme P-series against similarly priced smartphones from the likes of Xiaomi, Samsung, Vivo, Motorola, OnePlus, and Oppo, as well as, relatively younger player Nothing.

Das said the smartphone lineup aims to democratise access to modern technology by offering segment-leading performance and display features. “We are targeting tech-savvy users. They look at products with maximum technology and features that are available in their budgets,” he added.

However, Realme has not yet divulged the specifics about the hardware and software capabilities of the P-series, although it has roped in Indian visual artist P.S. Rathor as a co-designer.

Its Vice President Chase Xu earlier said that Realme’s smartphone strategy includes bringing back the performance-oriented GT series to India in 2024, while the number series will be a “hot product lineup” with an emphasis on photography features, and the affordable C-series will cater to the country’s vast young consumer base.

Realme is expanding its smartphone range at a time when larger brands are making their portfolio lean and competing aggressively across price brands with both 4G and 5G-enabled products.

Notably, the entry-premium segment in the price range of $200-$400 (~Rs 16,600-Rs 33,000), remained flat in the India smartphone market last year with a 21% share, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). It was dominated by Vivo and OnePlus with a cumulative shipment share of 40%.

“We just want to come out of the current traditional approach to new design and new products, where a customer can find everything like required features, or technologies, within their budget, and then we can meet up their expectations,” Das said.

The P-series will be exclusively made in India for the country’s consumers, and won’t be exported, according to Realme. For manufacturing, Realme is using the Oppo facility in Noida. The smartphone brand which forayed into India nearly five years ago also has partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Khy Electronics, Bhagwati Electronics, Skyworth, and Videotex International.

Realme, though, will only focus on smartphones this year in India. “We are trying to launch products in different segments, but yes, our focus is going to be more and more on smartphones,” the executive said.

Realme, ranked third, saw its smartphones fall 13% year-over-year in 2023 which eroded its volume share from 14.5% to 12.5%, as per IDC.

India Smartphone Market 2023, Top 10 Brands, Unit Market Share, Year-over-Year Growth. (Source: IDC)