“Realme’s statistic comes on the back of reports that its market share took a heavy beating post the festive season.”
Chinese smartphone OEM Realme has claimed on Twitter that it has sold a total of 10.2 million units of its budget smartphone lineup, the Realme C series, ever since it was introduced back at the end of 2018. The lineup has seen the launch of two devices, Realme C1 and Realme C2 in India, which have also been marketed in different names in other markets. According to Realme, the figure of 10.2 million devices sold reflects the total number of devices sold under the Realme C series globally and is not bound to any particular market.
The information comes as Realme gears up to launch a new device under the Realme C series, expected to be named Realme C3 in India. The device, which 91mobiles has previously reported as the Realme C3s (which could be its official name in Thailand), is seen to house a vertical camera unit with the primary module at the top. While details are scarce, the size of the module suggests that it could be a triple camera unit or a dual camera unit with the LED flash included in the module itself. The schematic diagram of the device’s rear also reveals a physical fingerprint sensor.
A series that successfully made its mark in the entry-level segment!
— realme (@realmemobiles) January 28, 2020
Packed with a 13+2 MP Dual Rear Camera, 5 MP Front Camera and 2GB RAM, both smartphones in the realme C series deliver unmatched performance and have been chosen by 10.2 million global users. pic.twitter.com/cyXU0mVMmR
Other details suggest that the Realme C3 will launch with Android 10 and ColorOS 7 custom UI, which should be the case anyway. Unfortunately, it only appears to support single-band Wi-Fi at 2.4GHz, but no other specifications have been revealed by the rumour mill so far. While the single-band Wi-Fi support may seem strange, it is important to note that the Realme C series sits at the very beginning of the budget range, and is priced near the Rs 5,000 mark. For reference, the Realme C2 was launched in India in May 2019 at Rs 5,999.
The Realme C2 is powered by the MediaTek Helio P22 SoC, packs up to 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, features a 6.1-inch HD+ display with a waterdrop notch design, a dual-rear camera with 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel sensors, a 5-megapixel front camera, and a 4,000mAh battery. Going forward, Realme is expected to offer improved specifications, while retaining a similar price point for the upcoming Realme C3. It will be interesting to see whether the upcoming device uses one of the recent chipsets unveiled by Qualcomm and MediaTek.
Realme was recently reported to have taken a heavy beating in the market, according to market tracker IDC’s recent data. While Realme is seen to have climbed up to second in the Indian smartphone market during the festive season, beating Samsung with 16.74 percent of the Indian smartphone market, it witnessed a rather sharp decline over the next two months. During this time, while Samsung climbed back up to second with 21.08 percent of the market, and fellow BBK Electronics brands Vivo saw a rise and OPPO remained constant, Realme’s market share plunged to 8.23 percent as of November 2019.
Going forward, Realme will hope to bank upon devices such as the upcoming Realme C3, as it vies to revive its position in the market.
