Launching a Chinese phone that fully charges in 9 minutes for only 649 USD, Realme’s trick makes Xiaomi and Oppo wary

Chinese startup Realme wants to stand out in the mid-range smartphone segment. So, on February 28, Realme launched a smartphone that it claims can fully charge in 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

The company introduced the GT3 smartphone at the world’s largest mobile trade show Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Realme is looking to grow its business outside of China and join the race with other phone makers targeting overseas markets.

GT3 has a starting price of 649 USD, classified in the mid-range segment with fierce competition with other Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi and Oppo.

Ben Wood, research director of CCS Insight, considers this an extremely difficult market to get into. Realme will face many obstacles such as the risk of single-digit profits “evaporating” if the dollar fluctuates, component prices or shipping costs increase.

In an effort to go overseas, the company launched the GT2 and GT2 Pro phones in Europe in 2022. But it was a difficult time, as the global smartphone market that year was packed with phones. Lowest shipments since 2013.

Realme CEO Sky Li said the company looks to sell 85 million phones globally by 2022. Market research firm Strategy Analytics estimates Realme has shipped 52 million smartphones, down 20% year-on-year. period of the previous year.

According to Counterpoint Research, Realme’s sales in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2022 fell 44% year-on-year. Realme’s market share in Europe also fell from 6% to 4% in the same period last year.

Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawston said Realme’s biggest challenges across Europe and the US in 2023 include a lack of brick-and-mortar retail stores and a brand less attractive than Apple or Samsung.

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