Realme to launch sub Rs 10,000 5G phones in India by next year: Madhav Sheth | Digit

Realme is one of India’s biggest smartphone makers, and is among the major players driving the 5G revolution in India. Today, the company hosted the first edition of its Realme Global 5G Summit in partnership with Counterpoin Research, GSMA and Qualcomm. The event saw industry experts speak about the state of the 5G industry, while both Realme and Qualcomm gave us an insight about their plans for the industry going forward. 

Madhav Sheth, Vice President, Realme and Chief Executive Officer, Realme India and Europe, also made a big announcement with regards to further democratisation of 5G in India in the near future. Responding to a question, Sheth confirmed that the company plans to bring 5G phones to the sub Rs 10,000 price segment in India by 2021. 

Speaking at the event, Sheth also said, “Starting with our first 5G model, the realme X50 5G, we have been exploring new design concepts and technical innovations to bring users slimmer and design-rich 5G phones that offer powerful performance. We believe that in the 5G era, helping to accelerate the adoption of this new technology is a crucial mission for realme. We will work hard to help popularize 5G by listening more to consumers’ needs, pushing forward product innovation, and helping to build the broader 5G ecosystem with our industry partners.”

The move to bring 5G phones to more affordable segments is an ambitious yet understandable move considering the company has already made its presence felt in the sub Rs 15,000 segment with the recent launch of the Realme 8 5G(₹ 14999 at flipkart) (review). The Realme 8 5G has been quite well received in the country, and the company will be hoping to replicate its success by launching more affordable 5G devices in the country. To remind our readers, the Realme 8 5G was launched in India at a starting price of Rs 14,999 

At the summit, Realme also reaffirmed its commitment to become a “popularizer of 5G” as it pledged to bring the technology to more users worldwide. In 2020, Realme launched 14 5G devices in 21 markets, accounting for around 40% of all its products. By 2022, the company aims to increase the number of its 5G product offerings to over 20, upping the ratio to 70% across 50 markets.