Realme to increase India headcount to 10,000 by year-end

Smartphone maker Realme plans to increase headcount in India to over 10,000 by the end of this year, a top official of the company said on Tuesday.

The company has also set a target to sell 3 crore smartphones and 80 lakh artificial intelligence-based devices in this calendar year, the official said.

"We will also keep bolstering our localisation strength. We are targeting to expand our workforce to over 10,000 by year-end. At the same time, we are also encouraging more of our suppliers and partners to open local factories in India and contribute more to our country's economy," Realme India CEO Madhav Seth said on the sidelines of the launch of new handsets.

The company unveiled new smartphones under realme C12 and realme C15 series priced between Rs 8,999 and Rs 10,999.

"We observed the diversified requirement from entry-level smartphone users post GST hike. To cater to their need, we have refined the product portfolio of C series, so there will be not just one but multiple products in each generation of C series," Seth said.

He said from a consumer behaviour point of view, more purchasing will happen on budget phones in 2020 against 2019, the mid-range to flagship segment will be impacted the most as people are having lesser money to face a higher price.

According to Counterpoint research, Realme grew over 119 per cent in the first quarter of 2020.

Realme expects to maintain over 100 per cent global growth rate in 2020. The entry-level segment of Rs 7,000-Rs 10,000 and a mid-range segment of Rs 10,000-15,000 is expected to receive further momentum and hold 60-65 per cent of the Indian smartphone market this year.

"Realme has a strong presence in both segments with multiple offerings. We expect to sell 30 million smartphones and 8 million AIOT products by the end of 2020," Seth said.