Realme partners Airtel, Jio, Vodafone Idea to offer bundled 5G smartphones

Smartphone maker Realme has partnered with telecom operators Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea to come up with a bundled offer for 5G handsets, the company said after the launch of 5G services at the Indian Mobile Congress.

Realme launched India's first 5G smartphone in India in 2020 and since then, it has added 23 5G smartphones to its portfolio.

"As the first brand to launch a 5G-enabled phone, we believe that 5G has the potential to bring together the entire ecosystem, which is why Realme has dedicated 90 per cent of its research and development efforts to 5G technologies and devices.

"We have partnered with the leading telcos in India and have curated a host of bundle offers for our users," Realme vice president and Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth said in a statement.

Seth -- who is also Realme International Group President -- said 85 per cent of the company's devices already support standalone (SA) 5G (Which Jio is rolling out) and 100 per cent of its devices will have full SA support by October.

"We are also rolling out OTA (over-the-air) updates for our devices to ensure that all our users can make the most of 5G," he said.

During the beginning of the festive days, 5G devices garnered 45 per cent of Realme's overall sales. The brand has sold 1 million 5G units in the last five days.

As per the IDC second-quarter report, Realme climbed to the second slot for a second time, with strong year-on-year growth of 24 per cent during the reported quarter.