Oppo has launched its sub-brand in India in May 2018 – Realme. After facing huge demand from the consumers, the Realme 1 is now available for purchase via open sale on Amazon India website. What’s noteworthy here is the apparent shift in the strategy which Oppo has been following for years now. The company which majorly relied on retail chains and used to sell its phones in the stores is now resorting to the online-only way of selling. The Realme 1’s Amazon exclusive debut tells us that a shift in the compass for Oppo might be overdue, and finally, the change has come.
The aggressively priced Realme 1 which sports MediaTek Helio P60 processor and a 6-inch screen is an attempt to attract buyers who do not want to stir out of the comfort of their home to buy a new device. Oppo has launched this new sub-brand to test these strategies, of online selling and aggressive pricing in the Indian market.
Riding on the E-Commerce Wave
Oppo seeks to leverage the massive attention which sites like Amazon and Flipkart garner these days. The sub-brand of Oppo, Realme has come up on the sites with the same motive. The company will be targeting buyers who do not want to take the hassle of going out to the retail stores to buy a smartphone. With the Indian smartphone market running entirely on the ‘value for money’ parameter, this might work in Realme’s favour since the brand has focused on pricing its phones aggressively. On the other hand, retail stores won’t only house Oppo and its sub-brands, as such inside the store the likelihood of competition increases with brands like Lava, Micromax etc.
Competitive Pricing
One of the primary reasons that Realme can offer its phone for such low prices is the elimination of the middleman. While selling offline, companies usually add the cost of distribution which increases the end cost of the smartphone. By selling the phone directly on Amazon exclusively, the company has cut down massive costs on the phone thus bringing down the actual cost. Also, Xiaomi’s history in the e-commerce model has told us that in India, competitively priced phone with value for money is very well received. Realme might just be able to replicate the success if it hits the right target.
Besides setting up a robust offline presence now, Realme would bring the much needed online presence which Oppo needed. The phones from Realme would rely on competitive pricing and the power of e-commerce to register sales.
The Realme 1 is available in three variants of 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage and 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The entry-level variant costs Rs 8,990 while the second variant is priced at Rs 10,990 and lastly, the highest variant is available for Rs 13,990.
