Realme to make Smart TVs in India after lockdown, flagship TVs soon

Chinese smartphone brand Realme, which locally manufactures the smartphones it sells in India, will begin production of its new smart TVs once the lockdown to contain the coronavirus is over, Madhav Sheth, Vice President, realme and CEO, Realme India said on Monday.

The company will also launch flagship-level TVs soon and along accessories, like soundbar, in the India market.

Currently, Realme is all prepared to start surface-mount technology (SMT) production in India for its affordable smart TVs. Realme, said Sheth, is investing on a complete production line from basic components to panel assembling and SMT.

"For realme smartphones, we started our SMT assembling lines from day one and even invested Rs 300 crore towards eight new SMT lines during last Diwali season to meet the surge of consumer demands," Sheth told IANS.

"Our commitment for Realme Smart TV will be the same. This is our commitment to bring more production to India and contribute more to our nation's economic growth post lockdown," Sheth added.

Taking on the market leader Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone brand Realme finally forayed into the tech-lifestyle segment with bringing its first-ever Smart TV, starting from just Rs 12,999, and Smart Watch to the Indian market.

"We don't consider only one brand to be our competition. Rvery brand will be our competition that offers TVs in 32-inch and 43-inch category," said Sheth, adding that Realme Smart TVs will become the benchmark for TVs in the category with infisty-leading features and specifications

Realme is looking forward to sell 8-10 million of its AIoT products in India this year that includes TV, audio accessories and wearables.

To attain the goal, it is expanding its distribution channels to tier-4 and tier-5 towns, aiming to have 400-plus distributors onboard to cover 35,000 plus mobile stores and more exclusive service centres.

The smartphone maker is also working towards strengthening its localisation strategies.

"Realme will make all efforts to become the most popular tech lifestyle brand in India. We aims to launch multiple AIoT products in 2020 around your 'Personal, Home, and Travel' experience," said Sheth.

The company had a great start with realme Buds Air that was the second best-selling TWS in 2019.

"We have sold more than one million wireless headphones so far. Even as lock-down has impacted sales in Q2, we are pushing our limits to maintain growth because the market demand for smartphones is massive," Sheth noted.

Realme announces its first smartwatch

Realme, one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands, is now expanding into the 'lifestyle tech' market with products in new categories.

According to The Verge, the brand's first-ever smartwatch - Realme watch- comes in a square screen with a 1.4 inch LCD display.

The smartwatch can be used for accessing notifications, controlling music, hanging up on phone calls and do other things that a smartwatch does.

The brand claims that the smartwatch comes with a battery life of 7 to 9 days in normal mode and upto 20 days in the power-saving mode.