In August 2021 Strategy Analytics reported that Realme joined the smartphone 100M shipment club.

What sets Realme apart from other Chinese counterparts?

Traditionally Chinese smartphones are incredibly price competitive. Realme’s average launch prices are the lowest of the four Chinese vendors for similar 5G smartphones with 128GB of onboard storage.

There will always be opportunity for the mid and low end smartphones but competition is fierce. The Chinese vendors are already in a race to the bottom for 5G Sub-6 handsets. This is all well and good and Realme has successfully capitalised. The question is; which of the newer vendors have designs on the premium segment? For example, the Realme X50 Pro 128GB launched at an average price of approx. 700 USD (excluding tax) in Q2 2020 and by early Q3 2021 retailed for just 170 USD (Cosmote in Greece), a devastating price erosion by any standards!

Could Realme have better price erosion control with smarter pricing strategies? The vendor which does this best is the one which is most likely to succeed in establishing a premium brand position.

Strict price control takes effort; not only to understand the competition but also the brand's own stockists. In retail ultra-premium brands are selective about retail partners, product display and most importantly: price point and elasticity.

We have clients who use the PriceTRAX database to track and analyse mobile device retail and contract pricing (prepaid, unsubsidised, post-paid, SIMO) across 54 countries. Data is presented via an online web UI, dashboards and customised exports.

To see how Strategy Analytics’ PriceTRAX database can support pricing decisions, and how our web UI and visual dashboard platform might help you, click here

Or email:

Phill Maling: pmaling@strategyanalytics.com