Premium prices, new markets, update promises, more

Realme gained strength in 2020, with global shipments up 65% from 2019. The company also experienced strong growth in India and was able to secure fourth place in 2020.

What does the company have in store for 2021? Should we expect higher prices this year? Does the company learn to run before it can run in ecosystem space? We spoke to Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme India and Europe, about these and other topics.

Premium Realme prices

Realme has a reputation for offering flagship phones that are affordable compared to the competition. But we’ve seen a pattern over the years where emerging smartphone brands start out with affordable flagships and then offer premium price tags once they get established. Examples of this are Xiaomi and the Mi 10 series as well as Huawei and its Pro series. Will Realme offer premium pricing on flagship products in 2021? Sheth replied:

Not this year, in 2021. But yes, you will see [the] Unit price, definitely between $ 600 and $ 700, is coming this year.

It is not clear how this will affect prices in Europe and India. Last year’s Realme X50 Pro starts at under $ 550 in India but retails for € 599 in Europe. For what it’s worth, the Realme Race Pro in particular seems to justify a price tag of $ 600 to $ 700. The upcoming Snapdragon 888 flagship features a 160 Hz QHD + OLED screen and a 5,000 mAh battery with a 125 W charge.

It is clear, however, that the company is not ruling out premium flagship pricing going forward. And that’s why a price increase for 2022 or later doesn’t sound out of the question.

Plans for Europe

Realme is a relatively young player in the European region, but it has already managed to achieve a lot of growth. What can we expect for the region this year? Not only did Sheth bring more lifestyle products to Europe, but he also highlighted Realme’s higher goals:

Our main goal is definitely to make 5G known in every single price segment. And to be among the top 5 or top 3 in many markets. Our goal is to sell around 10 to 12 million units in Europe.

The executive also suggested that both the upcoming flagship Realme Race Pro and X9 Pro could come to Europe to give users a choice between the two high-end phones.

Realme should also launch Realme X7 and X7 Pro in the region in Q4 2020, but Sheth explained the reason for the delay, noting that the series was “a little delayed due to supply chain disruptions.” According to Sheth, we can expect the two phones to start “by the end of the first or early second quarter.” [2021]. ”

New year, new markets

Realme has a pretty solid global presence, but there is definitely room for expansion, including “many other markets” in Europe and elsewhere that the company has not yet entered.

“One of the regions that we will definitely belong to is Africa,” said Sheth. “Maybe this year we will enter West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa.” South Africa was specifically challenged as being through local airline Vodacom, with a global centralized agreement already signed with parent company Vodafone.

Too many phones, not enough updates?

One concern that keeps popping up about Realme is that it ships a ton of smartphones. How is the company balancing a huge portfolio of challenges like firmware updates and other hurdles associated with many phones?

Sheth claims that Realme only has one or two devices at a certain price, and says those devices will be updated “after six to eight months”. He also states that the company “will never compromise on updates”.

See also: The best phones under 20,000 rupees

However, it’s worth noting that Realme 3 and Realme 5 are missing from the beta roadmap for Realme UI 2.0, which was released in 2019. Sheth says they only promised two Android updates (Android 9 and Android 10) to these phones. However, both phones launched with Android 9, which means they only received an update to the Android version.

Samsung has also announced that it will offer updates for the Android version for selected smartphones for three years. Could we see Realme follow in the footsteps of the South Korean brand?

“Realme has a two-year policy,” said Sheth, adding that security patches could be available for more than two years.

Selfie cameras and leaflets under the display

In the smartphone industry, the first commercially available phone with a selfie camera under the display of the ZTE Axon 20 5G was recently introduced. Unfortunately, images captured with this camera definitely seem like a step down when compared to traditional selfie cameras. Should we expect this feature from Realme in 2021?

Sheth says technology isn’t commercialized until the company believes it’s practical enough to use. This apparently includes cameras under the display – “certainly not in 2021,” affirmed Sheth, while also providing the same answer to the prospect of a foldable Realme phone.

A rough start with its ecosystem products

So far, it has been an on-going issue that Realme’s ecosystem products – especially its wearables – could be better polished before release. Our own Dhruv Bhutani said the Realme Link app was the weakest part of the Realme Band experience. He also lamented spotty fitness tracking with the band and the Realme Watch.

“We didn’t have the right ecosystem from day one,” Sheth said on the subject. “… we’re learning. I won’t be afraid to say this, we’re learning.” He added that the community had also provided feedback, with some asking why Realme was accelerating its plans and why it wasn’t bringing better ecosystem products to market .

Connected: Realme has to run before it can run

However, Sheth says the design, distribution, and software development of ecosystem products were separate entities and explains that it took some time for this agreement to work:

… I’m not saying it’s one of the best communication apps between the mobile phone and the Internet of Things, but I can guarantee that we are basically headed in the right direction. Right now, the Realme Link app is 100 times better than when we actually launched it.

He added that he was “pretty confident” about connectivity between Realme ecosystem products and iOS, since the iOS version of the Realme Link app was released in December 2020.

Curious about Realme’s plans for 2021?