Realme taps into fantasy and fandom with Game of Thrones-inspired smartphone

Realme is ramping up efforts to reposition itself in India’s competitive smartphone market, shifting its focus from budget-friendly devices to the mid-range and premium segments. According to Francis Wong, head of product marketing at Realme Global, the company’s key task now is to strengthen its brand perception among consumers who associate Realme with affordability rather than aspiration.

“The biggest challenge for us is to make Realme a premium smartphone brand,” Wong says. “Most people in India recognise Realme, but when you ask if they would buy a flagship device, the answer isn’t always certain.”

Since entering the Indian market in 2018, Realme has grown rapidly to become one of the top five smartphone brands in the country.

The brand initially made its mark as an online-first disruptor, competing aggressively in the sub-Rs 15,000 segment. However, as smartphone ownership and disposable incomes rise, Realme has gradually reoriented its strategy towards higher-value devices and a stronger offline presence.

Realme held a market share between 9.5% and 12.6% in the Indian smartphone market in 2025, ranking consistently fourth among major smartphone brands. Its top competitors are Vivo, Xiaomi, Samsung, and OPPO, all of whom are clustered close in percentage points and together dominate the largest segments of the Indian smartphone sector.

Realme's push for premium recall aligns with the category trend of premiumisation, with the average selling price (ASP) rising to an all-time high of $275, marking a 10.8% year-over-year increase, according to IDC.

From affordability to aspiration

Between 2020 and 2021, Realme began transitioning from an online-only player to a multi-channel brand with a focus on mid-range and premium offerings. Wong says the company is no longer investing heavily in marketing low-cost models.

“We’ve stopped investing in the sub-Rs 15,000 category. Our advertising now focuses on products above Rs 25,000,” he explains.

Realme has also altered its product launch strategy, choosing to promote only one or two key models every six months instead of flooding the market with frequent releases.

“We realised that continuously launching multiple products confuses consumers. They don’t remember what the brand stands for,” Wong notes. “By spotlighting fewer, higher-value products, we can gradually build a stronger brand identity.”

The company is also reshaping how its products are presented at retail. Wong says the emphasis is now on more premium in-store visibility. “We don’t want to fill stores with low-cost banners. Our goal is to ensure that Realme’s presence looks premium and consistent,” he adds.

Balancing growth and market realities

While Realme has secured a strong foothold in the Rs 10,000–Rs 15,000 price bracket, where it often ranks among the top two brands, it remains a challenger in the Rs 25,000-and-above segment. Wong attributes this partly to consumer perception and partly to regional imbalances in brand presence.

“Realme is more popular in North India, but our penetration in the South is relatively weak,” he says. “Most of our celebrity associations have been with Bollywood stars who appeal to Hindi-speaking audiences. That’s something we are working to balance.”

The brand’s emphasis on higher-value products also aligns with broader shifts in Indian consumer behaviour.

“Earlier, buyers compared specifications—megapixels, processors, RAM,” Wong observes. “Now they care more about the experience, especially the camera quality. The market has moved from being specs-driven to experience-driven.”

He adds that Indian consumers have also shown a strong appetite for AI-led smartphone features. “India is one of the most adaptive markets for AI. If you want to test whether a feature will succeed globally, launch it here first,” he says.

Despite expanding into multiple international markets, India remains Realme’s largest and most influential. Wong describes it as the company’s “home field”, contributing roughly one-third of Realme’s global sales.

“We started as an Indian smartphone brand before going global, and many of our product decisions still originate here,” he says.

Design and feature trends are often shaped by Indian users’ preferences. “You’ll notice that Realme phones use more expressive colours. That’s because Indian consumers prefer vibrancy,” Wong explains. “Many of our AI features, like glare removal or edge detection, were developed based on demand from India.”

Collaborations as part of the brand-building strategy

To enhance its appeal among younger consumers and build an emotional connection, Realme has consistently pursued collaborations with global and cultural icons. Past partnerships have included Coca-Cola, Naruto, and industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa. The company’s latest tie-up with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products, inspired by HBO’s Game of Thrones, continues this approach.

The Realme 15 Pro Game of Thrones Limited Edition incorporates thematic design elements such as nano-engraved dragon motifs, black-gold accents, and a heat-sensitive finish that shifts colour when warmed, symbolising “dragonfire”.

The phone also comes with customised user interfaces inspired by House Stark and House Targaryen and a collector’s box featuring themed accessories.

“This is our first collaboration with a TV series, and Game of Thrones was an obvious choice because it’s globally recognised,” Wong says. The device will be limited to 50,000 units in India, underscoring its exclusive positioning.

The marketing strategy for the crossover centres on targeted digital outreach. “We’re focusing on Game of Thrones fans who may not have previously considered Realme,” Wong explains. “You’ll see our ads running alongside the series and within fan communities. The idea is to reach new audiences through shared fandoms.”

While Realme has collaborated with a range of Indian celebrities, from Ayushmann Khurrana to Vicky Kaushal, Wong says such associations are selective and largely guided by fan feedback. “We ask our user community which personalities they connect with most before finalising partnerships,” he says.

IoT and diversification

Beyond smartphones, Realme continues to develop its IoT ecosystem (an initiative that involves a range of smart products and the Realme Link app), particularly in the audio and wearables category, which now accounts for about 10–15% of its revenue. 

“We’re among the top three or four brands in India in this segment,” Wong says. However, the company has scaled back earlier experiments with televisions and laptops. “To sustain quality and profitability, you need scale. Without sufficient volume, customer experience suffers, and it can hurt your brand image,” he explains.

All IoT products are now locally manufactured, aligning with the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. “If we expand to new categories, they must be made in India—otherwise, costs become unviable,” Wong adds.

As Realme navigates its next phase in India, the company’s emphasis remains on long-term brand building rather than short-term volume growth. The push towards premiumisation, supported by selective collaborations and design innovation, is a signal of how the brand aims to mature its identity in a market that is both value-conscious and rapidly evolving.

“Realme is focusing more on brand building than market share,” Wong says. “We want consumers to not just recognise us but to see us as a credible mid-range and premium smartphone brand.”