HIGHLIGHTS
. There were rumours earlier that Realme was planning to launch affordable smart TVs in Indian market.
. Realme CMO Xu Qi has now confirmed that the company is working on smart TVs and that it will be launched in 2020.
. CMO Xu Qi made his comments at the Realme X50 5G launch in China.
In little over a year, Realme has become of the key phone brands in India, with 2019 seeing the company post impressive growth numbers. Now, Realme wants to get into another growing market — the market for smart TVs. On Tuesday, Realme CMO Xu Qi revealed that Realme TV will be launch in 2020, first likely in China and then in India, considering how important the Indian market is for the company. CMO Xu Qi made his comments at an event in China where Realme launched the X50 5G smartphone.
The comments from CMO Xu Qi come several weeks after rumours of a Realme smart TV started surfacing. The rumours hint that Realme TV, or TVs, will compete with the likes of Xiaomi Mi TVs that have become quite popular in India. This is similar to what the company has done in the phone market where Realme phones compete with Xiaomi’s Redmi and K series phones. This also means that the Realme TVs will be relatively affordable — think a 55-inch Realme TV at a price of around Rs 40,000 — and will aim to give users close to premium experience at lesser price.
This also means that the Realme TV, like the TVs launched by OnePlus, which is part of the same family of companies, will be not be extremely high-end preposition. Instead, it will target the mainstream market, again somewhat similar to how the company does it in the phone market where OnePlus targets consumers on the upper end of the premium segment while Realme tries to woo mainstream shoppers.
Apart from the launch window, which is now confirmed to 2020, nothing else is known about the Realme TV. But it is safe to assume that the TV — or if there are TVs then at least one of them — will have a 55-in screen. It is also certain that the TVs will be powered by Android OS and will come integrated with some streaming services, possibly Hotstar, Amazon Prime and Netflix.
Realme apparently has big plans for India in 2020. The company is hoping to launch a fitness band soon, yet again to take on the likes of the Mi Band from Xiaomi. Recently, apart from some new phones, it launched its first true wireless earbuds called Realme Buds Air. In 2020, Realme is also expected to launch a 5G phone, something that may happen in the first half of this year, and possibly will update its entire lineup of phones, including the high-end Realme X2 Pro.
