Trakin Tech’s Exclusive Interview With Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth Reveals Explosive Details!

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The brand: Realme is barely 12 months old. It was separated from parent company Oppo in May, 2018, and was born as a separate brand of smartphones.

However, defying all odds, Realme established themselves a major competitor for existing smartphone brands in India, and within a year, it positioned themselves as one of the top 5 smartphone brands.

In fact, as per a Counterpoint Research, Realme 3 was declared as India’s #1 smartphone in terms of online sales.

The incredible success and growth of Realme brand is indeed a case study.

Recently, Trakin Tech founder and chief Youtuber Arun Prabhudesai met Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth in China, and asked some really interesting questions about the brand’s positioning, their future plans for India, their thoughts about price war and more.

Here are some of the interesting questions and answers, as part of our exclusive interview with Madhav Sheth:

What is the secret of Realme’s success in India?

Madhav Sheth: “It is very clear and simple. The formula is written in every book, but not every brand takes the effort to follow it as religiously as we do. One thing is product quality, and the other is listening to the customers. We did these three things and that is what has made Realme reach the level it has today.”

When we shared that every smartphone brand is doing the same, then why they are not able to ensure such awesome numbers, Madhav said that the brand Realme never focuses on marketing. Rather, their focus has always been product, and customer feedback.

Maybe this is the real recipe of success.

Realme smartphones are priced aggressively: Are they making any profits?

Madhav Sheth: “We are not making any losses, and we are here for business. If we don’t make profits, how will we ensure that we provide the same technology to consumers? It is important for us to be healthy in terms of money, but we wouldn’t say that we are making fewer profits. We are making reasonable money, but at the same time we would ensure that we are in profit and we that we are able to sustain for a longer period.”

Who is Realme’s biggest competitor: Samsung or Redmi? Who are Realme’s competitors actually?

Madhav: “It depends on the price range of the smartphone. Whichever smartphone is launched in the same price category, that is our competition. “

“Right now, we are amongst the top 5 smartphone brands in less than 12 months, and whoever is present in that ecospace is our topmost competitor.”

Will Realme Venture Into Accessories?

Madhav Sheth: “Not IoT devices, but accessories related to mobiles, power banks, Bluetooth headsets, wireless headsets, airpods, chargers,  and these will come before Diwali. But we are not venturing into IoT devices such as TV. “

When Is Realme X coming to India? Series after Realme X?

Madhav Sheth: “Realme X can come to India within one and a half months. Upgrades of Realme such as X1, X2 planned.”

Realme has entered top 5 smartphone club. Which brand have they managed to steal the most marketshare: Redmi Samsung Vivo Oppo?

Madhav Sheth: “Customer transition data shows mainly from Samsung and Xiaomi. Percentage-wise, both the brands put together, 70%. I would say that there was a lot of scope for the brands to explore more opportunities and being more user-centric.” He also added, “We are going to be extremely disruptive this year also.”

What about Realme Flagship?

Madhav Sheth: “Realme 3 Pro is a flagship device too. We want to give high-end specs in a budget range smartphone. That is what we try to do. There are two parts about a good phone, good performance characteristics and aesthetics. Realme 3 Pro used the SD 710 chipset and the next level is the premium level. So we are now trying to see what premium features we can provide.”

Is Poco F2 a competitor of Realme Flagship?

Madhav Sheth: “We are not targeting the brand, we are targeting the price segment. We will try to give consumers of any price segment the technology at that price point. We aim to give the technology in a phone worth forty thousand the same found in a phone worth one lakh.”

Oppo has Color OS. What about Realme OS? Any plans?

Madhav Sheth: “At the launch (Realme X launch, which happened last week), you will see that we are launching our own UI already. From Color OS 5 to 6, we have seen major progress. Color OS 6 will have more major improvements by September. It will have more improvements closer to the stock Android experience.  We have the biggest team in Realme which is working only on software. We believe H&S, a phone should have appropriate software that will support that particular hardware.”

Indian smartphone market is bombarded with price war. What about innovation? Is price war good?

Madhav Sheth: “Realme 3 Pro was the only phone in this price segment to have Android Q. We wanted users to experience high-end technology. Realme was a complete package. It was not only about the pricing or the software. There was everything in that phone. Pricing is something that the customers connect to directly. We are trying to bring innovation to the users in a budget-friendly way. More premium innovations will also follow soon enough.”

How many smartphones will Realme launch this year?

Madhav Sheth: “8 to 10 smartphones this year.”

You can watch the full interview here: