Coming in at No. 2 in India: October was a good month for Realme

October has been a good month for Realme. According to the Counterpoint report for the month, the company has gained 18 per cent market share in India (the highest ever in the past two years) and became the second top smartphone brand in the country.

As Realme pointed out in its announcement, the 18 per cent market share makes it the “youngest, standalone brand to accelerate to the Top 2 position in the Indian smartphone industry, within just three years of inception”.

Realme beat Samsung (16 per cent) in October, coming in second after Xiaomi (including Poco) which topped the lists at 20 per cent. Vivo came in fourth with a 13 per cent.

This is the first time Realme has beaten Samsung in the market to take on the second spot and as Realme India CEO and VP, Realme and President, Realme International Business Group, Madhav Sheth, said: “Our aim for 2022 is to be the No. 1 smartphone brand in India, and this milestone is just another steppingstone to realise that vision.”

October numbers for Realme have been significant. The third quarter of 2021 (Q3) saw Realme tie in with Vivo with a 15 per cent market share, Samsung was just ahead with a 17 per cent and Xiaomi lead with 23 per cent.

Realme also announced its landmark of hitting 100 million in cumulative shipments globally in 2021 and it has also reached 50 million units in cumulative shipments in India in Q2 2021. In Q2 2021, Realme also ranked among the top six smartphone brands globally, as per Counterpoint data, and was one of the youngest smartphone brands to achieve that.

While Q3 was encouraging for Realme, Sheth expects this rise to continue and pull them through November and December. Counterpoint’s monthly analysis reports for November are expected to come in by December end, but given the Diwali sales and other festival offers, the brand is expecting to do better than what it did in the previous months.

“From the very beginning, our aim has been to become the most adored technology brand, and I feel we are getting closer to that with each passing day. Being among the top 2 smartphone brands is a phenomenal achievement for us, and the entire team at Realme is quite ecstatic about it,” Seth told Business Today.

“September, October and November are significant months for us, given that they are full of festivities and our consumers in India love to shop on these auspicious occasions. While Counterpoint data for October reflects the love that our consumers have for the brand, we saw a similar outcome during our festive sales,” he added when speaking about how the brand has performed over the last few months.

“I aim to have a similar market share for November as well as December, and we will close the year on a high note with 22-23 million smartphone shipments. Our target for 2022 is to be the no. 1 smartphone brand, and we have some exciting plans for the entire year which will help us achieve that target,” he said.

Realme is all set to launch its new flagship device, the Realme GT 2 Pro, on December 20 along with other devices in the GT 2 series. The Realme GT 2 Pro is one of the most-awaited devices of the year since it is going to be powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 1 SoC.

What we know about the Realme GT 2 Pro so far

The upcoming flagship device might have a 6.8-inch FHD+ screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. There might be a 50MP primary camera on the back along with two other lenses. It also might have a 32MP selfie camera. The Realme GT 2 Pro might ship with 128GB internal storage and a 5,000mAh battery with 65W fast charge support.

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