Madhav Sheth New Global Vice President for Business & Corporate Strategy, Michael Guo to Take Charge as India Head

HIGHLIGHTS

* Madhav Sheth accepts a new global role as Vice President for Business and Corporate Strategy (Global) of Realme.
* Realme is expected to make the announcement regarding who will head of India business as soon as possible.
* The company is planning on bringing a top Chinese executive to run the India business for the company.

Reports of Realme India head Madhav Sheth had surfaced earlier this week. According to an ET Telecom report, Sheth has stepped down from the company’s India division’s apex role.

The report did not reveal whether Sheth is still a part of the organisation or who would replace him as the new Realme India head. Putting any possible rumours and speculations to rest, Sheth has confirmed that he is still a part of Realme.

The former Realme India head revealed that he has now been promoted to a Vice President (VP) role at Realme Global.

Sheth took to Twitter to share details about his new role. “Exciting news! I’m thrilled to announce that l’ve accepted a new role as VP for Business and Corporate Strategy (Global). Excited to take this opportunity and contribute to company’s success,” he said.

The company is planning on bringing in a top Chinese executive to run the India business for the company.

“Exciting news! I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve accepted a new role as VP for Business and Corporate Strategy (Global). Excited to take this opportunity and contribute to the company’s success,” said Madhav Sheth in a Tweet.

Madhav Sheth appointed as VP for Business and Corporate Strategy

Following Madhav’s change in role, it is not clear who will run Realme India’s business. Sources say that Realme is expected to make the announcement regarding this as soon as possible.

Madhav is the main man responsible for taking Realme where it is today. From being called just another sub-brand (of OPPO) to a fairly independent brand that launches its own products across multiple segments.

The company has various product categories under its wings, including smartphones, TV, tablets, audio, and others. Sheth’s expertise and command over the local market enabled Realme to reach a dominant position in India.

According to industry experts, Realme may face challenges with appointing a Chinese national as the leader of their Indian business.

This is due to potential concerns from the Indian government, which has been scrutinising Chinese-operated companies, particularly smartphone vendors that are suspected of evading taxes worth large amounts.

All You Need To Know About Madhav Sheth

* Madhav Sheth is an award-winning global business leader with over 17 years of experience.

* He spearheads the company’s strategy development, product engineering, business development, market operations and brand-building initiatives alongside others.

* Sheth is fully responsible for realme’s overseas business operation, reporting directly to the founder and CEO of realme, Sky Li.

* On May 4, 2018, realme was officially established by its founder Li and Sheth in India.

* Sheth focused on the development of AIoT devices and smartphones for Indian consumers, with the goal of improving their lives by inventing fashionable and high-tech lifestyle smart products.

* Under his leadership, realme India diversified into AIOT products with Smart TVs, Smart wearables and Smart hearables; strengthened mainline presence across the country with realme exclusive stores.

* The company also enhanced ‘Make in India’ commitment with local manufacturing and exports to Nepal region, and popularised adoption of 5G-enabled smartphones.

* Under Sheth’s leadership, realme emerged as the third biggest smartphone brand in India in Q1 2022, and the fastest growing major 5G brand globally in Q4 2021, clocking a 165 per cent growth in global 5G smartphone shipments.

* The company climbed to the second slot for a second time, with a strong YoY growth of 24 per cent (highest among top five vendors) in Q2, 2022, as per IDC. It grew 2 per cent (on-quarter) in the third quarter last year, according to Counterpoint Research.

* Realme cemented its second position in the online channel with 23 per cent share with affordable model offerings in the C-series.

FAQ’s on Madhav Sheth New Global Vice President

1) Realme India to Get New CEO?

Ans) Realme India might get a new CEO soon now that the company’s former top chief has moved to a bigger role for the global division.

Sheth confirmed that he will be the VP for Business and Corporate Strategy for Realme’s global division.

The confirmation confirms a day after reports of his exit from Realme India surfaced on the web.

While the report was technically valid, Sheth’s announcement confirms that he is still a part of the company.

Sheth is known to have played an instrumental role in Realme’s success in India. Since the company’s inception in May 2018, Realme has seen massive growth over the years under Sheth’s leadership in India.

The company surpassed Samsung in October 2021 to become the second-largest smartphone brand in India with a market share of 18 per cent. While Samsung soon regained the position, Realme continued to be among the fastest growing brands in India.
As the company progressed, Sheth was appointed with several roles at Realme.

He was also a part of the company’s senior operations in Europe and some other markets.
The company was among the fastest to break into the top-five smartphone brands in global markets.

It also shipped over 100 million smartphones in three years since the launch of the first phone, the Realme 1.

Now that Sheth has moved to a bigger role, it remains to be seen who replaces him as the new CEO for Realme India.

According to a report, Michael Guo from the company’s China team will join as the new India CEO.

However, Realme has reportedly denied the rumours of Guo’s appointment as the new Realme India CEO. The company is expected to share some more details about the same very soon.

2) Who is Madhav Sheth ? What has been the contribution of Madhav Sheth to Realme in his journey as the VP?

Ans) Sheth, the current CEO of realme India, Vice President of realme and President of realme International Business Group has been at the forefront of developing consumer goods with cutting-edge technologies, features and designs.

With over 17 years of expertise, he is an award-winning global business leader who leads the company’s strategy development, product engineering, business development, market operations, and brand-building initiatives, among others.

Sheth is completely responsible for realme’s overseas business operations, reporting directly to Sky Li, realme’s founder and CEO.

Realme was formally established in India on 4 May 2018 by its founders Li and Sheth.
Sheth concentrated on the creation of AIoT devices and smartphones for Indian consumers, with the aim of improving their lives through the creation of fashionable and high-tech lifestyle smart products.

Under his leadership, realme India expanded into AIOT products with Smart TVs, Smart wearables, and Smart wearables, and expanded mainline presence across the country with realme exclusive stores; strengthened its ‘Make in India’ commitment with local manufacturing and exports to Nepal region and popularised the adoption of 5G-enabled smartphones.

Realme was the third-largest smartphone brand in India in Q1 2022, and the fastest-growing major 5G brand in the world in Q4 2021, with a 166 per cent increase in worldwide 5G smartphone shipments.

According to IDC, the company ascended to the second spot for the second time, with a strong YoY growth of 24 per cent (the highest among the top five vendors) in Q2, 2022.

According to Counterpoint Research, it increased by 2 per cent quarter on quarter in the third quarter of last year.

With affordable model offerings in the C-series, realme cemented its second place in the online channel with a 23 per cent share.

realme is the No 5 Android smartphone brand in the world and the newest brand to reach 100 million sales in 37 months.

His goal for the next five years was to make realme the most adored tech-lifestyle brand in the nation.

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