Chinese Smartphone Brand Realme Targets 100 Million AI Handset Shipments In 3 Years

Realme is breaking into the hotly contested field by sharpening its focus on imaging, efficiency and personalisation, which revolve around the core needs of young users, Li said in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.

“2024 marks the starting point for AI smartphones, and AI is an opportunity for the smartphone industry to reshape the future and push for disruptive innovation,” Li said. “For us, AI is an opportunity we absolutely cannot miss, and it’s also a new battlefield full of challenges.”

Like virtually every other smartphone maker, Realme is making AI-related features a core part of its value proposition to consumers this year. Its features include enhancing low-resolution photos on the Realme 13 Pro, which is meant to compensate for not having top-tier hardware.

Li said Realme wants to make AI more accessible to young people by baking the latest technology into affordable devices. “As AI continues to mature in the smartphone industry, it will also need pioneers to popularise these advancements,” Li said. AI features will first roll out to its flagship GT models and then move to more affordable devices, he added.

China is expected to lead the world in the adoption of AI-powered handsets, with the segment making up 12 per cent of total smartphone shipments on the mainland this year, ahead of the global average adoption rate of 9 per cent, according to an April report by consultancy Canalys.

With the help of AI, Realme aims to double sales in its home market by 2026, according to Li.

Realme, originally incubated by Oppo in 2018 and spun out in 2019, has become one of the fastest growing smartphone brands by focusing on young consumers in overseas markets. The company said in November that it has shipped more than 200 million handsets since it was established, mostly outside China, reaching the milestone faster than all but four other smartphone vendors.

Europe in particular remains a key market for Realme, where the brand ranked fourth by shipments in the first quarter and made up 4 per cent of the market, according to Counterpoint data.

“We aim to break into the top three in Europe in the next three years,” Li said.