Tag: Realme

Chinese smartphone brands Oppo, Vivo India & Xiaomi under tax sleuths’ lens

Mumbai: Chinese smartphone makers have once again come under the scanner of Indian agencies for cases of alleged tax evasion. Notices have been issued to Oppo, Vivo India and Xiaomi, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed Rajya Sabha recently. The three Chinese mobile phone companies, between them, hold a major share of the Indian smartphone market.

The Finance Minister said that the department of revenue intelligence (DRI) has issued a notice to Oppo for a total customs duty of Rs 4,389 crore. This is on the grounds that misdeclaration of certain goods leads to a short payment in customs duty.

The duty evasion is about Rs 2,981 crore, Sitharaman said replying to a question in the Upper House.

“Undervaluation of imported goods for the purpose of payment of customs duty, that we think is an evasion of Rs 1,408 crore,” she said.

She stated that they came voluntarily to deposit Rs 450 crore, much less than the demand of Rs 4,389 crore.

Regarding the other companies, she said Xiaomi, which deals with assembling MI mobile phones, has been issued three show-cause notices.

“The approximate duty liability there is about Rs 653 crore. For the three show cause notices that have been issued, they have deposited only Rs 46 lakh,” the minister said.

She informed Rajya Sabha that a demand notice has been issued for Rs 2,217 crore for which they have deposited Rs 60 crore as a voluntary deposit.

“Besides these, the ED is looking at 18 companies that were established by the same group as Vivo, and there they have voluntarily remitted Rs 62 crore as deposits, but the parent company outside of India has total sales of 1.25 lakh crore.

“Of the Rs 1.25 lakh crore total sales, Vivo has transferred through these 18 companies huge amounts of funds, and it is believed that Vivo India has, in turn, remitted 0.62 lakh crore to its parent company, which is outside India,” Sitharaman said.

In her written reply, the finance minister said a show cause notice demanding Rs 4,403.88 crore has been served on Oppo Mobiles India based on the investigation conducted by the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI).

Five cases of customs duty evasion have been booked against Xiaomi Technology India, she said.

“During the period 2019 to 2022, in respect of the central board of indirect taxes & customs (CBIC), cases against 43 other such companies have been booked.”

“‘As regards to the central board of direct taxes (CBDT), investigation directorates have undertaken search and seizure actions in cases of five groups pertaining to the telecom sector, in which tax evasion has been detected,” Sitharaman added.

Meanwhile, the market share of these three brands, which make up the top five smartphone brands in India, has been steadily growing, despite the scrutiny. Xiaomi remained the market leader in 2022 with a share of 24 per cent, followed by Vivo with 18 per cent share and Oppo with a ten per cent share, according to a report by Cyber Media Research (CMR). The three brands, along with Realme and Korean smartphone major Samsung, account for nearly three quarters of India’s smartphone market.

August 3, 2022
Madhav Sheth named president of int’l business group at realme

Mumbai: Technology brand realme has elevated realme VP and realme India, Europe and Latin America CEO Madhav Sheth to the position of VP of the international business unit. With this promotion, Sheth’s new designation would now be realme India CEO, realme VP and realme international business group VP.

Sheth will be fully responsible for realme’s overseas business operation, reporting directly to realme founder ad CEO Sky Li. Helmed by his strategic vision and keen market acumen, realme will bring leap-forward technology and trendsetting design to the consumers in global regions. He will be fully responsible for realme’s business operations in Africa, Asia Pacific (excluding mainland China), Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Western Europe, said the brand in a statement.

“Madhav has made tremendous contributions to the development of realme’s overseas business in the past,” said Sky Li. “We fully believe that in the future, Madhav will lead realme to make new breakthroughs and bring realme’s products with leap-forward technologies and trend-setting designs to more young people around the world.”

realme was co-founded in 2018 by Madhav Sheth and Sky Li. A brand born in India, realme is spread to 61 markets worldwide. During his tenure as CEO of realme India and Europe, Sheth has led the team to continually increase realme’s presence in the Indian and European markets. The elevation marks a significant milestone with Sheth emerging as the first Indian Global CEO in the smartphone industry, hailing from India to the world, said the statement.

October 22, 2021
realme ropes in KL Rahul as brand ambassador

Mumbai: Smartphone brand realme has roped in Indian cricketer KL Rahul as brand ambassador to endorse its smartphone category.

Rahul will work with realme to help grow the smartphones category under the broad umbrella of product offerings, said the brand in a statement on Thursday.

“With the onboarding of a talented and renowned sports personality KL Rahul, we envision to combine the synergies of both. We are optimistic that the partnership will add unprecedented value to the smartphone category since we will also be able to target the massive fan following Rahul enjoys,” stated chief marketing officer of India, Europe, and Latin America Francis Wong. “We are certain that the partnership of such stature with a seasoned celebrity like him will strengthen the brand proposition of making cutting edge technology, fun, stylish, quality-driven products available to the audience.”

realme’s partnership with the seasoned sports star reinstates the brand ideology of being powerful, stylish, and youth-oriented, said the statement. “The partnership further complements the brand’s attitude of setting new benchmarks, inspiring thousands of millennials across the country,” it added.

“The fact that the brand has established itself as one of the leaders in the global market makes me proud to have associated myself with them,” said KL Rahul. “realme boasts unparalleled products that are stylish and powerful. Furthermore, its ethos of ‘Dare to Leap’ is something that I strongly resonate with.”

October 21, 2021
Havas Media Group India registers strong Q3 with marquee biz wins

Mumbai: Havas Media Group India has registered a strong Q3 on the back of new businesses worth Rs 750+ crores in the third quarter of 2021, the network announced on Wednesday. After garnering 35 per cent growth rate, the highest amongst Indian media agency networks in 2020, according to a Recma June 2020 report, the group is inching towards closing yet another successful year.

“Over the last two years, Havas Group India has displayed some phenomenal growth, in terms of new client acquisitions – some of them have been really esteemed ones. We have built our expertise through acquisitions, strengthened our teams through exceptional hiring of talent, and elevated the cultural and organizational shift,” said Havas Group India Group CEO Rana Barua. “This has clearly set us apart from the competition and it’s evident in our growth story. I am glad that the vision with which we set out to achieve has culminated into an outstanding momentum for the network. I’m also extremely delighted with all my colleagues at Havas Media, Creative and all our group companies for showing such resilience and commitment during such volatile times.”

The new business wins include some of the marquee brands, namely, Ambuja Cement, Bira91, Campus Shoes, De Beers Forevermark, Dr Reddy’s, and Realme. One of the biggest clients of Havas Media Group India, Swiggy, has further consolidated its association with the network by giving the media mandate of Swiggy Instamart, said the agency in a statement.

“Since 2019 we have been on the journey of creating the most evolved media agency network in India,” stated Havas Media Group India CEO Mohit Joshi. “We renewed our focus on upskilling and strengthening our strategy and business teams. As a result, investors, fund managers and marketers have put us in the big league. The testimony is also in the quarter-on-quarter growth despite the tough market conditions.”

October 13, 2021
Realme’s DIZO brand names Abhilash Panda as India CEO

Mumbai: DIZO, a TechLife brand from realme smartphone, announced the appointment of Abhilash Panda as CEO and official spokesperson for DIZO India. Panda joins DIZO India from Flipkart where he was director for its mobile phones vertical.

As DIZO’s CEO and spokesperson, Panda will be responsible for all areas of operations including sales, marketing, Research & Development (R&D), supply chain, human resources, among others as well as the front-end for all official announcements by the brand, and he will attempt to position DIZO among the top brands in Artificial Internet of Things (AIoT) products category, the company said in an official statement.

During his seven years of tenure at Flipkart, Panda has worked with several global and Indian technology and lifestyle brands, including realme since its beginning days and has been responsible to lead the planning and business development of these brands.

“I am excited to join the super energetic and promising team at DIZO in India. I am looking forward to driving business momentum at DIZO and make it one of India’s top brands in AIoT products… Together with Realme’s strong support and Flipkart’s pan-India reach, we are confident of being able to offer a world-class experience to our consumers,” said Panda on his new role.

“Today’s consumers are a discerning lot. They know their technology and are value-conscious and above all are ready to adopt solutions that make their lives easier. At DIZO it will be our mission to make this adoption easier for them,” Panda added.

July 10, 2021
White Rivers Media bags DIZO’s digital mandate

Mumbai: White Rivers Media bags the digital mandate of DIZO — a global technology brand and the first brand in the realme TechLife ecosystem. The brand comes with realme’s support in 3 aspects – Industrial Design, Supply Chain, and AIoT experience that works perfectly with the realme Link app.

Being an independent, full-service digital marketing agency, White Rivers Media will curate the digital strategies for DIZO to promote and elevate user experience in AIoT. The brand will focus on Smart Entertainment, Smart Home, Smart Care, and Accessories for its consumers. The agency has conceptualized the brand launch video with the vision of establishing the brand not just for the young generation but also for those who are young at heart.

DIZO social media lead Sugandha Varshney said, “With DIZO we aim to break the clutter and offer a discerning young generation of tech enthusiasts with differentiated technology that is aligned to their needs, complements their individuality, empowers them, and becomes an extension of their personality. We are leveraging our years of research at realme and a profound understanding of consumers and their needs. The team at White Rivers Media understands that we intend to keep the consumers at the very epicenter of the technology. They have helped us curate a digital campaign that will help us reach our target audience.”

White Rivers Media co-founder & right brain Mitesh Kothari said, “With people spending most of their time home, we have witnessed a gradual shift in their mentality — they are now willing to spend more to optimize comfort in their home lives. With the launch of DIZO during a time when the experience economy has slowed down, we are expanding our horizons towards creating versatile digital tech experiences and creating a sphere of tech-empowered life through AIoT.”

DIZO, being the first brand in the realme TechLife ecosystem, is launched with an aim of creating a variety of AIoT solutions to meet the varied needs of the young and vibrant generation of the world. The brand’s focus is to provide the latest, innovative, and high-quality AIoT products in Smart Entertainment, Smart Home, Smart Care, and Accessories for its consumers.

May 26, 2021
realme appoints Shraddha Kapoor as chief lifestyle officer of realme’s UNI Smart AIoT

MUMBAI : Smartphone brand realme has announced Shraddha Kapoor as the Chief Lifestyle Officer for its UNI Smart AIoT product portfolio. The new brand ambassador, who has also charmed millions with her unconventional portrayals on-screen and unique personality, reflects the brand’s ‘Dare to Leap’ philosophy and "Tech Trendsetter" positioning.

realme vice president and realme India CEO Madhav Sheth said “As realme diversifies its portfolio with new innovations, we are excited to have on-board, none other than, Ms Shraddha Kapoor as our new brand ambassador for realme’s AIoT products. We are thrilled to partner with Shraddha in this exciting journey as her ability to strike a real chord with the masses and undeniable charm will cement realme’s tech trendsetter positioning among the target audience. From audio to wearable products, we will bring more surprises that win over scores of lifestyle and fitness enthusiasts in India. ”

Commenting on the collaboration, star-actor Shraddha Kapoor said, “I am excited to join the realme family, the fastest growing smartphone brand in India, to bring a stylish and smart lifestyle experience to more youth across the country. I’m sure our collaboration will bring more cool technologies and fun experiences.”

The realme Band, will also go on open sale from 12 noon, March 16 on Amazon.in, realme.com and across offline stores. Commenting on the newly launched realme Band, Akshay Ahuja, Category Leader, Personal Computing & Wearables of Amazon.in, said, "We are excited to partner with realme to bring the realme Band for our customers on Amazon.in. The band offers great features at a very attractive price point which will resonate well with customers across the country. With this partnership, we continue to build a strong portfolio in the wearables category offering vast selection, great value and an unparalleled shopping experience."

The realme Band comes with a 2.4cm (0.96”) large color screen, which is capable of displaying more than 65,000 colors and can display as much as 64 letters on one page. It comes with three stylish color strap options including black and green, providing more choices for young consumers to fit their fashion lifestyle. realme Band weighs only 20g and is made from light and environment-friendly polymer material.

The band has built-in high precision PPG optical heart rate sensor which accurately measures the real-time heart rate every 5 minutes, allowing the user to keep a close watch on his health. By tracking the movement and the heart rate, the band’s algorithm intelligently analyzes sleep quality and generates a report which helps the user know more about his sleeping pattern. realme Band supports 9 sport modes such as walking, running, yoga, and more, and features a dedicated Cricket Mode, which has been designed especially for India.

realme’s ‘Dare to Leap’ approach of constant innovation, product differentiation, and user orientation has helped the young brand set multiple industry benchmarks and firmly establish itself as a domain leader in the fastest time. As per Counterpoint reports, realme was the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand in 2019 with 453 per cent growth on an annual basis, ranked no. 4 in India and no.7 globally.

March 13, 2020
Xiaomi, Vivo top in Q42019 smartphone shipments; Samsung at No 3 spot

MUMBAI: How the Chinese mobile brands are making merry in India. The latest study from Counterpoint Research shows that Chinese brands today account for a 72 per cent share of 2019 smartphone shipments in India as against 60 per cent in 2018.

Xiaomi regsitered a sales increase of seven per cent in Q42019 and five year for the whole year to continue to retain its marketshare of 27 per cent and 28 per cent respectively placing it at the No 1 position in India. In fact, India is a bigger market for it then is its home country China. What droves shipments this year was the fact that it expanded its offline retail presence as well as the strong performance of its Redmi Note series.

Vivo shipped 136 per cent more handsets in Q42019 and 76 per cent more in 2019 overall, to capture shares of 21 per cent and 16 per cent in the two periods respectively. In fact, its performance in Q42019 saw it dislodge Samsung from its second position. The south Korean megacorp had flat growth in Q42019 and it degrew five per cent in the whole of 2019. Its market share slipped from 20 per cent in Q4 2018 to 19 per cent in Q42019, even as it calendar year sales fell from 24 per cent in 2018 to 21 per cent in 2019.

Samsung shipments were driven by its upgraded A and M series (A50s, A30s, M30s and A20s). This is the first time Samsung transitioned to a completely new portfolio targeting different channels (offline with A series and online with M series).

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Oppo shipments almost doubled YoY in Q4 2019, due to demand for its budget segment device A5s and the good performance of its recently launched devices A9 2020 and A5 2020 in the offline segment. Oppo is now aggressively moving towards higher price points with the introduction of the Reno series.It witnessed a 96 per cent growth in its shipments which saw its marketshare growing from seven per cent (Q42018) to 12 per cent in Q42019.

On an annualised basis, however, it trails behind realme which witnessed a spurt of 255 per cent in shipments as its share for the year grew to 10 per cent for the calendar year 2019 from three per cent in 2018. realMe continued to retain its marketshare of eight per cent in Q42019 by shipping 15 per cent more handsets.

The Transsion group Itel, Infinix, and Tecno) reached its highest ever market share in Q4 2019. Transsion remained strong in tier 3, tier 4 cities and rural India. Itel was the number one smartphone brand in the entry-level sub-Rs 4,000 (US$ 60) price segment, while Tecno and Infinix showcased YoY growth in the Rs 6000-Rs 10000 (US$ 86-US$ 142) segment by bringing aggressive features at lower price-points like 6.6-inch displays, 20:9 aspect ratio, 5000 mAH battery, etc.

itel emerged as the number one feature phone brand in Q4 2019 followed by Samsung and Lava. Apple was one of the fastest-growing brands in Q4 2019 driven by multiple price cuts on its XR device, thanks to local manufacturing in India. Additionally, 2019 saw the fastest rollout of Apple’s new iPhones (11 series) in India, with aggressive pricing and a good channel strategy. In fact, the new series especially iPhone 11 was introduced at a lower price point than the last year’s iPhoneXR. This has helped to gain share during the festive season and in its launch quarter in India.

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Says Counteproint Research analyst Anshika Jain: “During 2019 we have seen all major Chinese players expanding their footprint in offline and online channels to gain market share. For example, Xiaomi, realme and OnePlus ave increased their offline points of sale, while brands like Vivo have expanded their online reach with Z and U series. 2019 also marked the fifth anniversary in India for some OEMs. Several have seen significant growth from their first full year of operation. For example, over the past four years, Xiaomi, Vivo, and OnePlus have grown 15x, 24x, and 18x respectively. This highlights that OEMs are mature enough to capture the next wave of growth and further expand their operations in India.”

Counterpoint ends by saying that all major brands are now aiming to expand in the mid to high price tier, which is likely to be the fastest-growing segment in 2020.

January 26, 2020

realme announces Realpublic Sale on Flipkart

MUMBAI: On this Republic day, Realme, which is one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands in India, has announced the “Realpublic Sale” with lucrative offers on the most trendiest and popular smartphone’s and accessories for their customers.

The sale will go live on 19 January, 2020 at 11.59 PM till 22 January 2020 at 11.59 PM. During this period, devices like realme 3, realme 5 Pro, realme X and the realme XT will be available at exclusive prices at Flipkart and realme.com. realme is also extending thrilling offers on its latest accessories – the realme Buds 2 and realme Buds Wireless. These will be available on realme.com, Amazon and Flipkart on special prices between 18-22 January, 2020.

The realme 3 (3+32 GB), which is currently sold at INR 7,999 will be available at INR 6,999. The higher variants of the phone come with a higher discount, making the 3+64GB available at INR 7,499 (earlier INR 8,999) and the 4+64GB at INR 7,999 (earlier INR 9,999). The brand is offering similar discounts on the realme 5 Pro, realme X and realme XT.

Here are the complete offers for your reference

Smartphone online offers (Flipkart & realme.com)
Title	Variant	Current Price (INR)	Sale Price (INR)
realme 2 Pro	4+64GB	8,999	7,999
	6+64GB	10,999	9,999
	8+128GB	12,999	11,999
realme 3	3+32GB	7,999	6,999
	3+64GB	8,999	7,499
	4+64GB	9,999	7,999
realme 3i	3+32GB	7,999	6,999
realme 3i	4+64GB	9,999	7,999
realme 5 Pro	4+64GB	13,999	11,999
	6+64GB	14,999	12,999
	8+128GB	16,999	14,999
realme C2	3+32GB	7,499	6,999
realme X	4+128GB	16,999	14,999
realme XT	4+64GB	15,999	14,999

Along with smartphones, realme is also providing exciting offers on its latest accessories – the realme Buds 2 and realme Buds Wireless. The offers on accessories will be valid between 18 January, 2020 – 22 January, 2020.

Accessory online offers (realme.com, Amazon & Flipkart)
Title	Current Price (INR)	Sale Price (INR)
realme buds 2 (All Colours)	599	499
realme Buds Wireless (All Colours)	1,799	1,599

January 17, 2020

realme launched India’s biggest campus concerts, realme Sundowners

MUMBAI: realme, the fastest growing smartphone brand in India that resonates with the young generation, has announced a series of events for the youth to kick-start the seasonal festivities. The brand will be hosting “realme Sundowner” with celebrities like Guru Randhawa and Divine in 4 cities, Campus Star Program across 40 colleges, and 11 campus fests at leading colleges like IIT Delhi. Initiated in major metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai to name a few, realme, plans to provide a platform for the youth to take a leap and explore their passion.

Speaking about the multi-city campus campaigns, Mr. Madhav Sheth, CEO, realme India said, “We are a young brand with young people who connect with the youth of India. We understand the importance of ‘breaking free’ from the daily routine not just to break monotony but to experience new things. As a brand, we have always been closely associated with our fan community that includes students. To engage them further we have launched the multi city-campus campaign, where we will bring Bollywood sensations to the campuses and also help students realize their passion in different fields. By 2020 we aim to collaborate with over 100 colleges for such events.”

Its first-ever multi-city music concert, ‘realme Sundowners’, will feature music sensations Guru Randhawa and Divine so that music lovers can experience world-class music and their favorite music artists in their own campuses. Guru Randhawa will be performing on October 10 and 17 in Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar and in IIT Bombay, Mumbai. While Divine will be rapping in Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai and Royal Global University, Guwahati on October 13 and 23.

In July this year, realme also launched the ‘realme Campus Star’ program – an initiative for students to showcase their talent, receive national exposure, and win exciting prizes. 40 college student societies such as Photography, Theatre, Music, and Dance participated in a competitive campaign themed ‘Dare to Leap’. The winners will be announced on October 15, 2019, and will be awarded realme smartphones, goodies and accessories along with a sponsorship worth INR 3 lakh for the winning society.

realme has partnered with multiple colleges across the country for their annual Campus Fests. Recently, the brand supported IIT Delhi’s fest, Rendezvous, where ace music composer and singer Amit Trivedi to rocked the stage. It has also partnered with Mumbai’s Sophia College, IIT – Kanpur, IIT – Ropar, BITS Pilani and NIT Trichy for their annual fests that are happening throughout October. In addition, the brand will also conduct and promote offline events/activities on the campus.

realme, which provides high- quality products for the youth of the country, has always been closely connected with the student community. They have launched multiple devices on college campuses like realme 2 Pro in Amity University, Noida and realme 3 Pro in Delhi University, North Campus. The brand is known to offer a wide range of sophisticated and advanced products for the youth at the best price-points. And over a short time-span has established an unbreakable bond with its users making them, true brand ambassadors. These youth initiatives for students aims to showcase their talent, receive national exposure, and win exciting prizes.

October 14, 2019