Chinese smartphone manufacturers Realme, Oppo and Honor have stepped up their efforts to challenge the dominance of Samsung and Apple in the European market. Accordingly, they will focus on flagships to influence the rapidly changing balances in the global market.
What is happening in the European smartphone market?
The flagship segment, which promises higher profitability, has become a primary target for Chinese brands. Realme, one of the fastest growing smartphone manufacturers worldwide, recorded a 275 per cent increase in European sales between 2020 and 2023. Accordingly, it became the continent’s fourth largest smartphone vendor.
The company said that despite the slowdown in the overall smartphone market, it was the fastest brand to reach 100 million phone shipments globally and the fifth fastest to reach 200 million sales last year.
Realme acknowledged the challenges of the European market, noting that customers are less familiar with Chinese brands and pay less attention to price-performance balance. The company aims to increase its current 4 per cent market share in Europe to over 10 per cent in the next three to five years.
Similarly, Honor has identified Europe as its most important market outside of China. The brand surpassed Samsung in foldable smartphone sales in Europe in the second quarter of the year and also entered the top five in the overall European market share.
Oppo, another Chinese giant, has also announced plans to invest in the European market for the long term. The company stated that despite the difficulties, they reached more users with the launch of the Oppo Find X8 series.
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