- Realme has confirmed that the Realme 9 series has been postponed to 2022.
- The company blamed the global chip shortage for the delayed market launch.
Realme typically launches two numbered series phone families each year, a tradition that goes back to the very first product launches. In 2018 the Realme 1 and 2, in 2019 the Realme 3 and 5 families and last year the Realme 6 and 7 series were launched.
The Realme 8 series was launched this year, and you’d think the Realme 9 family would be on the way later in 2021. Unfortunately, Realme India and Europe CEO Madhav Sheth has now told GSMArena that this will not be the case. Sheth cited the global chip shortage as the reason for the delay in the Realme 9 series.
“We solved this through close discussions with chipset manufacturers and the Realme 9 series will come to users in 2022,” the manager was quoted as saying. However, Sheth has claimed that all remaining Realme launches in 2021 will go as planned.
Still, those in the solid budget phone market now have one less option on the table. But there are still some good alternatives, like the Realme 8 series, Redmi Note 10 family, and Samsung’s Galaxy A and M series.
Realme isn’t the only company affected by the industry-wide chip shortage, however, as Samsung appears to have delayed the release of the Galaxy S21 FE due to that shortage, too. The low-cost JioPhone Next, made through a partnership between Google and Reliance, has also reportedly been delayed from launching on Sept. 10.