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Smartphone-Maker Realme Aims to Double 2019 Sales Amid 5G Push

By Ding Yi / Jan 08, 2020 01:04 PM / Business & Tech

Photo: VCG

Photo: VCG

Chinese smartphone-maker Realme aims to ship 50 million phones in 2020, twice the number it sold last year, Reuters reported Tuesday citing a remark made by the company at a launch event for its first 5G-ready handset.

The remark is further evidence that Realme is positioning itself to cash in on China’s ongoing 5G rollout. Last month, company founder and CEO Li Bingzhong said Realme will “march into” China’s 5G market from 2020, when consumers are likely to start upgrading their smartphones to models that are compatible with the country’s nascent 5G telecoms infrastructure.

Since its major mobile carriers launched commercial 5G services late last year, China has been accelerating the construction of the next-generation networks, with some 113,000 base stations online as of the end of November.

At the Tuesday launch event in Beijing, Realme unveiled its first dual-mode 5G smartphone, the X50, which is priced from 2,499 yuan ($360). Dual-mode smartphones can flip automatically between current 4G networks and their 5G alternatives. The company previously said that it will no longer release 4G smartphones from 2020 in China.

Realme, which is a sub-brand of Chinese smartphone vendor Oppo, grew its presence in India late last year, becoming the fourth-largest smartphone brand there with shipments of 6.7 million units in the third quarter.

The company is also considering pushes into Europe and the Middle East in 2020, the company’s global marketing president Chase Qi told Reuters.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

Related: Realme Bets Big On China 5G Push in Hope of Repeating India Success

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