Enterprise
realme’s strategy is to go beyond smartphones
But with smartphones still as the central hub
The rise of realme over the last two years has been nearly meteoric. After building a foundation in Southeast Asia, the brand has announced at IFA 2020 that they’re now ready to take on Europe. Their strategy is to go beyond smartphones but with that personal mobile device as the central hub for everything.
Sound familiar? What realme aims to do appear to be a mish-mash of what Huawei and Xiaomi are doing. Not bad examples to follow seeing as how Huawei sky-rocketed in popularity (US-China trade war notwithstanding), and how Xiaomi has built a cult following for offering smart home devices for less.
Disrupting the smartphone market
We’ve already talked about how realme has been a disruptor by offering flagship features for phones in the lower and upper midrange category. The features range from debuting the 64MP camera, adding a 90Hz refresh rate, and many more.
They have also had success with their budget offering — the realme C series. These budget phones are well-built and have enough oomph for what you may need a smartphone for.
The next frontier is 5G and naturally, realme is also partaking in that area with the realme V series and realme X series.
The realme V Series is mainly for solving low battery anxiety in the 5G era with flash charging and mega battery, enabling better 5G experience. The realme V5 was launched in China in August with 5000mAh mega battery and 30W Dart Charge. Launched in September, realme V3 is designed to bring 5G closer to more people by pricing at at the budget $150 segment.
Meanwhile, the realme X Series is positioned as a lighter and thinner 5G flagship with powerful performance. It will adopt cutting-edge technology and craftsmanship to bring industry-leading trendsetting design and bring a unique experience for the young. Recently, realme X7 and X7 Pro were launched as the 1st choice among 5G flagship with 120Hz AMOLED screen and 65W SuperDart charge.
1+4+N
realme has also started offering a bunch of AIOt products that can be linked to the still developing realme Link App. We’ve seen the some TWS buds and most recently the realme Watch. But it doesn’t stop there.
They’re taking a “1+4+N” strategy meaning they look to lure you into the ecosystem by offering products that first work with the smartphone and extending their reach from that.
- 1 Core: realme takes smartphone as the core of realme AIoT ecosystem to connect, manage and control all AIoT product with realme Link App.
- 4 Smart Hubs: realme makes Smart TV, Smart Speaker, Smart Watch and Smart Earphone as the top 4 smart hubs to help consumers manage and control more AIoT products together with smartphones.
- N AIoT products: The ‘N’ here represents realme’s commitment to bring a plethora of new AIOT and peripheral product, and trendsetting lifestyle products for our fans. realme aims to build a trendsetting community for the young.
realme is poised to launch over 50 AIoT products in 2020, and 100 in 2021, to make AIoT become a part of our lives in a more easy and affordable way.
In 2020 Q4, realme will enhance this AIoT ecosystem with its first 55” TV, wireless and TWS ANC earphone, medium and high-end smartphone, and smart camera and smart bulb.
A brand for the youth
realme also has its cross-hairs squarely focused on the youth. The idea is to bring this new digital home lifestyle closer to the youth. To do that, they need to make the products affordable but made with quality. For the most part, they’re on the right track.
At present, realme has over 45 million users in 61 markets worldwide. They’re top 5 in Singapore, top 4 in Australia, top 4 in India, and top 4 in SEA. As mentioned earlier, the next market of interest is Europe then Latin America.
Enterprise
Cebu Pacific becomes 1st SEA low-cost carrier with Starlink Wi-Fi
Rollout expected to begin in 2027
Cebu Pacific has introduced Starlink, making it the first low-cost airline in Southeast Asia to bring Wi-Fi in the sky for passengers.
The rollout is expected to begin in 2027. Starlink delivers an unparalleled broadband experience inflight, with high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi capable of HD streaming, online gaming, productivity and more.
Beyond enhancing the passenger experience, Starlink will also support improved operational connectivity for Cebu Pacific’s flight crews and operational teams. This enables better operational efficiency.
The collaboration is a significant milestone for Philippine aviation. The rollout forms part of Cebu Pacific’s continued investment in customer experience and digital innovation.
As part of the partnership, Cebu Pacific and Indigo Partners portfolio airlines, Wizz Air, and JetSMART expect to install Starlink on over 1,000 aircraft.
Enterprise
Google ordered to pay EUR 4.1 billion in fines
The EU alleges that Google uses its apps to establish an unfair dominance.
European fines have unintentionally become a normal part of doing business in the American technology space. For too long have American companies paid paltry fines to prevent harsher regulation in the European Union. Now, for the first time, Google is about to pay a record-breaking fine that goes beyond “paltry.”
Today, via CNBC, Google has been ordered to pay an astonishing EUR 4.1 billion (or approximately US$ 4.67 billion) in fines. The fine is in response to an anti-competition case.
This has been a long time coming for Google. The original case started in 2018. At the time, the European Union accused the brand of using anti-competitive practices to ensure its dominance in the smartphone market. According to the courts, the company’s bundling of first-party apps for every Android smartphone gives them an unfair advantage in the market and lessens the user’s choice in selecting apps.
For years, Google has fought the fine to seemingly no avail. Now, the company has lost its final attempt, which means that the fine still stands. On the bright side, they did get it reduced from the original EUR 4.34 billion fine.
The European Union is the scourge of every American tech company (and a godsend to consumers). Most notably, the continent’s government forced Apple to adopt USB-C, leading to a more universal experience across brands.
Google’s hefty fine aims to do the same. And it is quite hefty. Whereas previous fines were in the millions (and hence, negligible for most companies), a fine in the billions is more tangible.
Apps
foodpanda relaunches cult-favorite roast chicken brand after 8 years of persistent search queries
Heritage chain Andok’s returns to the platform, driven entirely by long-term user analytics.
In the world of e-commerce and food delivery, platform algorithms usually dictate what consumers see. But occasionally, consumer behavior is so relentless that it shapes the platform’s strategy.
In a move driven entirely by long-term user analytics, foodpanda has officially relaunched Andok’s, one of the Philippines’ most iconic heritage rotisserie chains, back onto its platform after an eight-year absence.
The search bar as a digital wishlist
The decision to ink the partnership wasn’t just a marketing play. It was a response to an ongoing data anomaly. Despite being offline from the foodpanda platform for eight years, Andok’s consistently ranked as one of the most-searched merchants on the app.
Year after year, users treated the empty search results page as an unofficial wishlist. This persistent search intent gave foodpanda a clear, data-backed signal of pent-up demand.
Prior to the official digital rollout, teaser campaigns on social media validated this demand, generating thousands of organic interactions from users anticipating the return.
Bridging heritage flavor with digital infrastructure
For foodpanda, onboarding a merchant with this level of built-in demand fits its broader strategy of marketplace optimization and hyper-local network expansion, turning a heritage brand into another data point for how legacy retail plugs into delivery infrastructure.
For Andok’s, the integration works as a fast track to digital scale. A legacy quick-service chain skips years of independent app development and reaches customers already using foodpanda’s existing logistics network, on a platform they already check daily.
Andok’s built its following on charcoal spit-roasted chicken, a slow-cooked technique that’s stayed largely unchanged since the brand’s early days, alongside seasoned grilled pork belly.
More recently, the Dokito line extended that following into crispy fried chicken and chicken burgers, broadening the brand’s appeal beyond its original rotisserie format and giving foodpanda a menu with both heritage pull and everyday fast-food convenience.
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