China’s Realme will enter Europe ‘s high-end handset market this month with its priciest ever device, its CEO told Reuters, as it looks to expand beyond its budget offerings and sell 50% more smartphones globally this year. realme europe

The Shenzhen-based company is among several Chinese handset firms that have been making aggressive moves to seize global market share from Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL), after stepped-up U.S. sanctions hobbled the former top smartphone maker’s supply chains and forced it to retreat, Reuters reports.

Realme plans to start selling its premium GT 2 Pro phone across Europe in February for $700-$800, founder and CEO Sky Li said.

According to new research from Strategy Analytics, realme is the fastest-growing smartphone brand in Europe in 2021.

Abhilash Kumar, Industry Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said“realme’s smartphone shipments in Europe grew +500% YoY and +548% YoY in Q4 2021 and 2021 respectively. It managed to become the fastest-growing smartphone brand in both of Europe’s sub regions i.e., Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) and Western Europe (WE). In CEE, it grew +643% YoY while in WE, it grew +416% YoY for 2021 (albeit smaller base in both sub-regions).”

Linda Sui, Senior Director at Strategy Analytics, added “In Europe, realme pushed into top 5 list in 2021, for the first time ever. In WE, realme surpassed several vendors to gain 5th spot in Q4 2021 from 13th in Q4 2020. Similarly, in CEE, realme gained the 4th spot in Q4 2021 from 13th in Q4 2020.”

Yiwen Wu, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, “Right marketing strategies, a diversified product portfolio, competent specs at aggressive pricing helped the brand achieve this growth so soon in the European market.”

For over 30 years, Strategy Analytics has provided access to data and insights on vendor share in 88 countries and 6 regions for volume, value, price tiers, and technologies, as well as deep customized insights into consumer behavior, brand perceptions and replacement drivers. realme europe

Counterpoint Research estimates Europe’s smartphone market generated revenues of $80.65 billion in the first 11 months of 2021, of which high-end devices accounted for $55.56 billion.

“Almost all of the growth is driven by the high-end, which can be attributed mainly to the successful premium models of Apple and Samsung,” Counterpoint senior analyst Yang Wang said.

Apple, whose prices for its iPhone 13 start at around $850, was Europe’s best-selling manufacturer last quarter, followed by Samsung and Xiaomi, whose phones are priced at around $900 and $700 respectively, according to Counterpoint.