Realme 9 [Photo Courtesy: Fone Arena]
Realme, the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand, has in an announcement set plans to increase its annual research and development budget by 58 per cent, in a bid to ground its business as future plan.
The statement notes that the increased investment will boost technology, innovation and quality of smartphones shipped into Kenya and other markets beginning next year, as the brand positions itself to become the first choice for young people.
“This means you can expect even more exceptional Number Series phones moving forward, as our Number Series is our essential product line, packing essential tech into a stylish package with an accessible price tag,” said realme Chief Executive Officer, Sky Li.
Since it began operations in 2018 , realme has recorded a stellar performance, headlined by 100 million smartphone sales across 61 markets in three years- propelling it to the world’s top five brands in 30 markets.
Coupled with a robust e-commerce, distribution strategy saw the firm record a historical year-on-year growth of 548 percent in 2021.
Instead, it will focus on consolidating China and Indian markets with ‘tens of millions of shipments’ and creating 15 markets including Kenya with ‘millions of shipments,’ over next three years.
“We call this new market focus our “Market Cultivation” strategy, which will place particular focus on our two 10-million shipment markets while working towards building a core of fifteen 1-million shipment markets,” said Li.