realme Revolution: From India To Global 4 Years Of realme

The Make in India campaign was launched by the government in 2014 to encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products within India with the motive of developing modern infrastructure and attracting foreign investment. In wake of these transformations, many brands took advantage of this opportunity to make the best in quality, world-class products for the world in India.

The second episode of the series realme Revolution - From India to Global showcases the significant journey of realme, India’s top tech-lifestyle brand with the motto - Dare to Leap!

The brand entered the smartphone industry in May 2018, introduced its AIoT portfolio in 2020, and today manufactures all its smartphones along with multiple AIoT products in India. Its portfolio continues to expand and safeguard its leading position in the market.

In its early years, realme focused on manufacturing trendy phones and gradually shifted its motto to producing high-quality devices. Madhav Sheth, CEO, realme India, VP, realme, and President, realme International Business Group stated that the company’s drive to support the Make in India movement saw them partnering with multiple OEMs. The brand’s smartphones are 100% locally manufactured, for which it invested INR 300 cr in establishing SMT lines in 2019. Not just that, 60-70% of realme smartphone supplies, like screens, batteries, and internal structures, are currently purchased and manufactured within the country. 

realme products are manufactured under the supervision of 100-1000 workers, with fully automated production, and it makes use of sophisticated machines using SMT, Surface Mount Technologies. Sree Hari, product manager, realme global, elaborates on how realme smartphones are meticulously manufactured. The base at Greater Noida alone can produce 1,80,000 smartphones in a day, which is roughly 250 smartphones every minute; a spectacular count for any brand that manufactures locally.

 

realme’s journey has been one-of-a-kind. It launched its first Smart TV in May 2020 and achieved 100% of local manufacturing by partnering with Bhagwati Products Ltd. Bhagwati Products Ltd has 4 SMT lines for manufacturing realme Smart TVs that can produce up to 2500 TVs per line per shift. Their production and assembly are completely automated and use high-tech robotic machines. Each Smart TV unit undergoes rigorous quality and function tests to ensure that no customer faces issues during its usage. On the strength of this, realme sold 2.5 lakh units of its Smart TVs in Diwali 2021 which enabled it to emerge as the number one smart TV brand on Flipkart during their ‘Big Billion Days’ sale. Their target consumers are usually those who want to live a modern lifestyle and are in sync with the latest technological trends.

 

To further strengthen its local manufacturing capabilities, realme partnered with KHY Electronics, a leading global EMS company to produce the realme watch 2 pro, realme buds wireless, and realme 4k Smart Google TV stick 100% in India. realme has also recently invested INR 26.8 crores for the local manufacturing of their flagship TWS with ANC - Active Noise Cancellation, the realme Buds Air 3 is realme's flagship TWS with ANC. Bazul Kochar, Product Manager, realme India, shares details on how the production and assembly of all AIoT products involve multiple steps that include machine as well as human efforts.

Madhav Sheth mentioned that realme aims to achieve 100% local manufacturing of their wearables and hearables in 2022. realme focuses its efforts to prioritise customer needs with trendsetting technologies. With a constant effort to promote trendsetting technology and localisation in India, the company also plans to expand to 13000+ employees by the end of the year.

realme also believes in strong after-sales services and redressal mechanisms to build on the user's experience and brand loyalty. Rahul Verma, Service Lead, realme India confirms that realme has around 400 service centres across the country dedicated to smartphones and AIoT devices, more than 500 centres service centres for Smart TVs and 350 service centres for laptops. Apart from this, realme also has 35 exclusive centres for customers to walk in and get their smartphone and AIoT devices serviced. In addition, they accelerated the process of grievance redressal by setting up VIP services for their flagship smartphone users, realme GT 2 Pro.

realme believes in serving the Indian market in collaboration with the ecosystem, therefore, making the customers ready for future technological advancements. Its venture into AIoT allows realme to carve a niche in smart products ranging from home systems to entertainment product categories. This is supported by realme’s supply chain, AIoT experience, and industrial design. The innovation and localisation slogan not only showcases the brand's commitment to making India a significant manufacturing hub for its devices but also secures the country’s global position through export policies and overseas sales.