OPPO and Vivo that belong to BBK Electronics from China gained decent market share in India by aggressively selling their phones offline. Now, OPPO is gearing up to build its online presence by launching a new sub-brand called Realme. The Realme 1 will be the first smartphone under the new brand. The Chinese firm has officially confirmed that it will be launching the first Realme phone on May 15 and it will be exclusively available for buying through Amazon India.
Rumors surrounding the Realme series reveal that forthcoming phones under the new brand would be priced between Rs. 8,000 (~$120) and Rs. 15,000 (~$225) and it will be aimed towards the youth. The below image shows that the Realme series would include stylish phones with impressive specs.
One of the images present on the landing page for upcoming Realme lineup on Amazon India shows that the upcoming Realme phone would be featuring a unique Diamond Black design. Also, the Realme series will be equipped with AI capabilities.
The above image resembles with the rear design of the OPPO A3 phone that was recently launched in China. Hence, it seems that the OPPO A3 could be rebranded as Realme 1 for India. The handset features a notched display designed like the iPhone X. As far as AI is concerned, it features AI-based beautification, scene recognition and 128-point facial identification features.
Read More: Oppo A83 (2018) With 5.7-Inch Full View Display Launched In India For Rs. 15,990 ($241)
Dual Branding Strategy: Will it Work for OPPO?
Xiaomi has Mi series such that generally includes phones with higher specs and expensive pricing are not doing very well in India. For instance, the Xiaomi Mi 5 was met with lukewarm response in 2016 because of which it had to skip the launch of Mi 6 last year. This year, the company again tried its luck in the premium smartphone market by launching the Mi MIX 2. Through a recent interview, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun had revealed that the Mi MIX 2 was not received well in the country. However, the Redmi and Redmi Note series have been so successful for Xiaomi that it has managed to dethrone Samsung to become the number smartphone brand in India.
Huawei had launched the Huawei P9 series in India in 2016, but it skipped the P10 series last year. However, its again with the premium P20 Pro this year. On the other side, its Honor brand is doing quite well in India. Smartphones like Honor 7X and Honor 9 Lite have attained good popularity in India.
Motorola phones like Moto G series and Moto E series are popular in India. However, the Lenovo that owns Motorola brand has failed to attract the Indian audience. It had released the Lenovo K8 Plus in September 2017 and since it has not launched any Lenovo-branded phone. Motorola brand has more visibility in the country and the company has been consistently build up its retail presence in India by opening new Moto Hubs offline stores.
Dual branding has worked for some of these companies in China, but the strategy has failed to gain traction in India. Oppo has the new Realme sub-brand coming for India. Will the dual branding strategy work for Oppo? Will it able to disturb the sales of Redmi and Redmi Note series? Share us your opinion by posting your comments below.
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